Santa Cruz Changes 136 - Car-free access to the North Coast

After decades of efforts by local preservationists, two large Areas of scenic North Coast land have been permanently closed to development, and are now open to outdoor recreational activities. 

At the north end of Cement Plant Road out of Davenport, where it crosses Highway 1 to become Davenport Landing Road, is a new parking lot and trailhead for the Cotoni-Coast Dairies National Monument, which just today opened several trails to the public. SCMTD bus 40 will get you (and your bike) to Davenport, about 1.5 miles from the multi-use trailhead.

Meanwhile, work continues on Segment 5 of the Coastal Rail Trail, which will extend from Wilder Ranch State Park to Davenport. When completed in 2026, it will create an off-highway bike route from Santa Cruz to the new NM.

The other large public-land acquisition is not right on the coast, but inland from the former cement plant outside of Davenport, accessible from Empire Grade Road. The Santa Cruz-based Trust For Public Land led a coalition that acquired the large tract now known as San Vicente Redwoods in 2011, and has opened the first 8.5 miles of planned public multi-use trails into the area. For now, the only access point is a parking area on Empire Grade Road, 12.5 miles up from UCSC, so not accessible car-free except to the hardiest bikers (bus 41 only goes as far as Bonny Doon). Trail pass registration (free) is required. Hikers/horseback riders/mountain bikers can sign up at TPL.

Santa Cruz Changes 135: Murray Street bridge closure impacts

 

The March closure of the Murray Street bridge at Santa Cruz Harbor for seismic retrofitting has impacted nearby businesses because of the reduced vehicle traffic. A belated effort is now underway to improve pedestrian and bike access via the adjacent railroad bridge.

Santa Cruz Local reports that:
"Thursday, the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission unanimously voted to allow the City of Santa Cruz access to the Santa Cruz Rail Line Bridge across the harbor for a potential temporary walking and biking path. The city would need permission from Progressive Rail, which [has a contract of freight operations on] the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line, but does not use it north of Watsonville. The Santa Cruz City Council is set to consider pursuing a temporary path on the rail bridge at its Tuesday meeting." 

The photo above (looking toward Santa Cruz) shows the rail bridge to the right of the vehicle bridge. I took a walk across the bridge last week, passing a number of other walkers and bike walkers (riding a bike under current conditions is difficult). It's not a problem for pedestrians, but it seems to me that providing a safe and usable bike path on that bridge would be difficult (and probably expensive), even though it would only be temporary.

The idea is that allowing and/or restoring pedestrian/bike usage of the rail bridge would help to offset the loss of vehicle traffic. I'm skeptical that it would make much difference - there wasn't very much pedestrian/bike traffic over the vehicle bridge before its closure. That stretch of Murray Street has always been a scary place to walk or ride, and improving those unsafe conditions is a secondary goal of the bridge work that's happening now. Since completion of the Arana Gulch ped/bike bridge, safety-minded pedestrians and bicyclists can now take the Broadway-Arana Gulch Open Space-Brommer Street route. Normally, there's easy walk/bike access from the Open Space to both sides of Santa Cruz Harbor, but the bridge work means those paths will sometimes be closed. 

It might seem better and simpler to accelerate the Rail Trail improvements already planned for that section, which is in the middle of Segment 8. Unfortunately, the existing rail bridge is not wide enough to accomodate addition of a ped/bike trail, so the schematic plans published to date envision an entirely new bridge parallel to the rail bridge. It's unlikely that a new Rail Trail bridge could be built faster than the work on the existing vehicle bridge that's already underway.

Still, I think temporary pedestrian/bike improvements to the rail line from Seabright Avenue to 7th Avenue are worth consideration. The Santa Cruz City Council meeting is at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 12 at 809 Center St., Santa Cruz and online. 

Santa Cruz Changes 134: The Slowdown

The breakneck pace of development in Santa Cruz County seems to be slowing, as evidenced by a number of recent announcements and/or local news stories.  

The most significant news, as reported by Santa Cruz Local, is that the developer has pulled out of the big mixed-use project proposed along Ocean Street. A partner in the project has already bought up all of the small parcels that will be combined, and most of the structures slated for demolition have already been vacated. Until a new path forward is found, that long-neglected block will continue to molder.

On the Westside, an approved proposal for a multi-residential project at 850 Almar Avenue was withdrawn in April, citing “basically a monetary issue”, according to Santa Cruz Local reporting. Out in Soquel, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported that a transitional-housing project co-sponsored by Santa Cruz County stopped construction in April, with the private development partner citing rising costs. 

Two projects have completed demolition, but don't plan to begin construction until at least 2026. They are the residential development at 111 Errett Circle (Changes 60), and the senior housing complex behind Lighthouse Field (Changes 56). 

Many other proposed Santa Cruz development projects written about here (some already approved by the city) seem to be in wait-and-see mode while construction wraps up on several large projects, including La Bahia Hotel (Changes 35), Pacific Station North (Changes 22), 418-508 Front Street (Changes 9), and the UCSC/Ingalls Alley student-faculty residential project (Changes 119). 

And finally, federal funding cuts have forced closing of the Santa Cruz Planned Parenthood clinic, creating a void in local healthcare, and another empty space on Pacific Avenue, while no new downtown large-business openings have been announced to fill any of the many other commercial vacancies that have happened in the last few years.     

Santa Cruz Changes 133: Public hearing for 1811-1815 Mission Street

This project has proceeded from the pre-application reported here in Changes 102 (Sep. 28, 2024), and the City Planning Commission will hold a public hearing this coming Friday, July 17, prior to a vote on final planning approval and a demolition permit. See the staff agenda report here. It doesn't appear that the size or shape of the project have changed noticeably from the pre-application plans.

Santa Cruz Changes 132: Quieter leaf blowers

 

A fairly small change this week, but one I've wanted for a long time. In the City of Santa Cruz, a ban on gas-powered leaf blowers and similar machinery went into effect on July 1. The Santa Cruz Sentinel ran a story today, by reporter Arik Sleeper, that goes into more detail about the new law and its relationship to longer-range state laws with similar aims. The city website has links to the full ordinance. 

The new ordinance will reduce noise and air pollution from exhaust fumes, but does little to reduce particulate pollution from blowing all that stuff up into the air. To address that problem, I would support a ban on any type of leaf blower, it's unlikely that we'll see a return to rakes and brooms (or electric-powered leaf vacuums) anytime soon.

Santa Cruz Changes 131: What's In a Name?

 

Thanks to new Lookout Santa Cruz reporter William S. Woodhams for alerting me to a change I hadn't noticed, even though I've walked past it a number of times. The image at right shows the new name of what has been the "Cocoanut Grove" (see 2024 image below) for decades.

Naturally, some people are upset, and I can empathize. Historic preservation sometimes extends beyond buildings to include the names of those buildings. 

Lessening the historic value of the old name, however, is the fact that it was copied from the Cocoanut Grove Ballroom of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, which opened in 1921. A more distinctly Santa Cruz name would have been preferable. "The Grove", while not exciting, makes a nod toward the older name.

Other long-standing Santa Cruz place names have been changed (or not), with mixed results. Across the street from The Grove, the new La Bahia hotel chose to keep the name of the apartment complex it replaces, so the years-long controversy there was not about the name.

Up the hill, however, we may remember that in the early 2000s, The Dream Inn decided to change its name to the uninspiring "Coast Hotel Santa Cruz". After a few years, however, the name changed back (presumably after Coast Hotels sold the property). I doubt that anyone protested that reversion.

So name changes can be unpopular and/or temporary, and may be remembered or forgotten, but are usually (but not always) less-important than the building they are attached to.      

Santa Cruz Changes 130: mid-year updates

Updates on a number of Santa Cruz County development projects that have been the subjects of previous posts in this blog:

* The senior housing project at 126 Eucalyptus Avenue (photo shows the former school building in the foreground, and the St. Joseph Shrine beyond) has broken ground (Changes 56: Feb. 11, 2023).

* The Santa Cruz City Council meeting agenda for June 24 includes hearing an appeal of the multi-use project approved at 530 Ocean Street (Changes 91: May 19, 2024)

* The "Clocktower Plaza" project (Changes 94: June 22, 2024) has been approved for construction (in its 8-story iteration), subject to resolution of a dispute about projecting balconies.

* The downtown Santa Cruz farmers market has completed its relocation to the parking lot next to the downtown library (Changes 127: May 10, 2025). Toadal Fitness has found a new home on Ocean Street. The gym's former home on Walnut Avenue, and the parking lots formerly used by the farmers' market, will be demolished to make way for the new library/housing/garage development (Changes 58: Feb. 25, 2023).

* Finally open (only 2 years late) is the segment of the Coastal Rail Trail from California Street to Pacific Avenue, where it connects to the existing segment that runs past the Boardwalk to the eastern bank of the San Lorenzo River (Changes 49: Feb. 19, 2022), crossing the river on the widened bike/pedestrian bridge completed in 2019 (Changes 33: Oct, 2, 2021). The rail trail is now complete from the river to the western city limit (and on to Wilder Ranch if you don't mind a dirt trail). 

* Also: work has begun on the Murray Street bridge seismic retrofit, which will be snarling traffic through the harbor area for the next two years or more. The bridge will be closed entirely for the next 7 months.

Santa Cruz Changes 129: San Lorenzo Park Redesign Final [concept] Report

As noted in the email copied below, at its meeting on Monday, June 9, the Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation Commission will be asked to approve the San Lorenzo Park Redesign Final Report. The redesign recommendations are still at the "concept" stage, so approval doesn't commit the city to any specific element (yet). Some of the report inclusions were expected (e.g. preservation of mature trees, lawn bowling, and Lorenzo), while others may come as a surprise, including: 

• The duck pond is gone entirely, with no alternative plan for attracting and viewing water birds (although such a feature is mentioned as possibly included in "Riverlands" restoration design).
• Replacing the duck pond are two new paved paths described as components of a "multi-use lawn".
• A basketball court and four pickleball courts (all noisy) will surround the existing (quiet) lawn bowling green, making that end of the park a noisy area - especially for lawn bowlers and County offices with windows on the west side of the CGC.
• The existing direct path from the park to the CGC parking lot is gone. Restrooms there are replaced by a new larger multi-use building. New restrooms are proposed elsewhere.
• An installed slackline
• Several new memorial installations, but no recommendation to retain the existing "Bull and Bear Fights" plaque 
• Indefinite deferment of restoration planning for the "Riverlands" (aka lower terrace)  

The Parks and Recreation Department has completed the San Lorenzo Park Redesign Final Report which includes the vision, guiding principles, design goals, and design concepts. Staff will be requesting that the Parks and Recreation Commission recommend approval of the report on June 9, 2025. The San Lorenzo Park Redesign Final Report can be found here: https://www.cityofsantacruz.com/government/city-departments/parks-recreation/significant-projects/san-lorenzo-park-redesign-project.

The staff report for the June 9, 2025 Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting will be uploaded to the Parks and Recreation Commission webpage on Thursday, June 5, 2025: https://ecm.cityofsantacruz.com/OnBaseAgendaOnline/Meetings/Search?dropid=4&mtids=118

Santa Cruz Changes 128 - A Warriors concept

 

As the City of Santa Cruz solidifies its south-of-Laurel rezoning plans, the Santa Cruz Warriors offered a draft-concept image of a new permanent arena. It answers a couple of questions and brings up others. 

In the image above, the new arena is seen from what's now the corner of Spruce Street, across Front Street. It's worth noting that:

• The pedestrian plaza in front of the arena is where Laurel Street Extension runs now. City plans call for rerouting that street to the opposite side of the arena, eliminating the big S-curve around the arena. That would eliminate some city-owned supportive-housing apartments - no word yet on where that housing might be relocated.
• There appears to be landscaping on the roof - does that indicate a public space up there? That would be cool, with nice views of the river.
• The building shown at far left in this rendering is not described in the Warriors concept, or in any proposal we've seen to date. Maybe a parking structure? Current occupant of that triangle-shaped Front Street parcel is Wheel Works. 
• The foreground crosswalk would connect to another pedestrian plaza that would take the place of today's Spruce Street, adjacent to the Ace Hardware parking lot. That plaza concept is illustrated in a rendering submitted for a proposed development (see Changes 126) that would fill the Ace Hardware block (foreground in the image below).

Santa Cruz Changes 127: The Once and Future Farmers Market

 

May 14 UPDATE: Move delayed until June 4

After 25 years, this coming Wednesday will be the last time the downtown Santa Cruz Farmers Market sets up in the Cedar Street parking lots between Walnut and Lincoln, seen at right (Photo: Dan Coyro, Santa Cruz Sentinel). 

The City is ready to move forward with preparing the site for the long-planned library/garage/housing project (first described here in 2023: Changes 58) that will cover those lots, so the Farmers Market moves to a temporary location next to and around the current library, as shown below.

Meanwhile, planning proceeds on a reuse plan for the current library location. At a March 25 presentation, the city asked for community input on 3 options. The motion described below was passed:

"Motion To: 

1) Adopt a resolution appropriating $250,000 from the Economic Development Trust Fund to fund site furnishings to activate Lot 16 for the Farmers’ Market and $150,000 from the Infill and Infrastructure Grant approved budget to fund needed site infrastructure; and 

2) Select Option 2 for re-use of the existing library site with a preference for affordable housing for city employee, seniors, and/or other sub populations identified in need of housing, to the extent legally feasible; and 

3) Direct staff to seek developers that will contribute to the development of the public market space."

No timeline has been established for these actions, so the Farmers Market may remain in its "temporary" location for quite some time. Eventually, the results of Option 2, as described in the presentation, will aspire to look something like the image below (City Hall is at far left).