Santa Cruz Changes 144: Changes in Scotts Valley

Compared to Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley changes have come at a much slower pace in the last few years. For example, it wasn't until September of this year that the city's first "affordable" housing project broke ground, near City Hall on Scotts Valley Drive.

The other main road in the L-shaped city is Mt. Hermon Road. A major change there has been the redevelopment of the old Skypark airport, which closed in 1983. The land is now mostly a city park.

Nextdoor to Skypark on Mt. Hermon Road is the King's Village shopping center. The city's Town Center plan, which has been kicking around since 2008, is a modest re-imagining of the shopping center area that includes adding housing. A more-ambitious example of this kind of effort might be the transformation of Aptos Village that has been underway for many years.

The Scotts Valley website has a page devoted to the Town Center plan. 

Santa Cruz Changes 143: Rail Trail changes strategy

The Santa Cruz County Rail Trail inches toward completion in the city of Santa Cruz, while trying to cope with route problems and rising construction estimates for later segments.

Back in 2022, I noted the start of construction on the segment from California Street to Pacific Avenue. That segment opened this year, and you can now ride or walk next to the railroad tracks from the western city limits to the Boardwalk. Once you cross the San Lorenzo River, however, things get more complicated. 

Narrow rights-of-way, narrow/outdated bridges, and mobile home encroachments in Live Oak have ballooned cost estimates, causing the Santa Cruz County Transportation Commission (SCCTC) to rethink its previous commitment to the "ultimate" trail design used in the segments completed so far - which calls for a trail separate from and adjacent to untouched railroad tracks. 

At its most recent meeting, the SCCTC narrowly voted to switch to the "interim" trail design favored by staff. The intention is to find a middle way between the expensive "ultimate" design and the "rail banking" alternative favored by supervisor Koenig. We'll see how this turns out - stay tuned!

Santa Cruz Changes 142: The Once and Future Catalyst

As iconic (and still existing) Santa Cruz institutions go, it would be hard to top The Catalyst. In 1974, Randall Kane converted the former bowling alley into a music venue that became the premier popular music venue in Santa Cruz. 

Way back in 2021, I noted in this blog that a building permit had been issued for a condo-conversion rebuild of the narrow L-shaped building that abuts The Catalyst on the north, but construction never began. Several events since then have changed the picture. The death of Catalyst owner Randall Kane left his heirs with both the property and the business. They leased the business to a third party, then put the property up for sale in July of this year. 

What happened next is unclear, but now a new development proposal has been submitted. It combines and expands the previous condo project with replacing the building currently housing The Catalyst. At this point, the plans propose to continue the music venue business in a ground-floor space about the same size and shape as now. 

The rendering at right above is from the developers plan set, and shows the corner of Pacific and Cathcart. The 1-story building on the corner is Old School Shoes, with its familiar mural extending along Cathcart to the right. That property is not included in the redevelopment proposal.

Here's the City webpage info. No public meeting has yet been scheduled:

Project Description

Project Size: Large Development Project 

City of Santa Cruz Project Number: CP25-0133

Addresses: 1009, 1011, 1015 Pacific Avenue

SB330 and Preapplication Review to demolish nonresidential buildings, combine three lots into one, and construct a 7-story mixed-use building located in the CBD (Central Business District) zone district and in the Pacific Avenue Retail District and Cedar Street Village Corridor of the Downtown Plan.   

Santa Cruz Changes 141: The Future of Capitola Mall

Since the state began pushing cities and counties toward building more housing, one location discussed as a possible Santa Cruz County housing location is Capitola Mall. A conceptual design including 637 residential units was presented to the city council in 2019, and the city is now making its first moves to allow housing there. 

The Capitola Planning Commission will hold a Special Meeting Wednesday, November 19 [2025] at 5:00 pm at City Council Chambers, 420 Capitola Avenue in Capitola. Click HERE for the agenda. Agenda items include:

Capitola Mall Properties - Amendments to Capitola Municipal Code Title 17: Zoning Code and the General Plan Land Use Element for Capitola Mall properties located between Clares Street, 41st Avenue and Capitola Road. The proposed amendments implement the 6th Cycle Housing Element of the General Plan to facilitate residential development on Capitola Mall. The Zoning Code is part of the City’s Local Coastal Program (LCP) and amendments require certification by the California Coastal Commission before taking effect in the Coastal Zone.

This will be worth watching over the next months and years.

Santa Cruz Changes 140 - Builder's Remedy update

 

Changes 124 reported back in March on a multi-family housing project proposal for 841 Capitola Road. The image at right is a current view of that address, currently a large lot with a single house. 

As noted then of the new proposal, "The building size and shape are familiar, but one factor makes this proposal different from most others we've looked at here: it intends to employ a provision in state housing law called the 'Builder's Remedy'."

More info on the proposed project and the Builder's Remedy (SB  can be found in that earlier post. Meanwhile, the proposal has been making its way through the County approval process, and a formal application is up for approval by the Planning Commission. The staff report notes that the proposal "Requires approval of a Site Development Permit pursuant to SB 330 and Builder’s Remedy (Gov Code §65589.5) and Density Bonus pursuant to Government Code Section 65915." The report goes on to recommend to the Commission: 1) "Determine that the proposal is statutorily exempt from further Environmental Review under the California Environmental Quality Act." and 2) "Approval of Application 241371, based on the attached findings and conditions."

Meeting info:

Meeting Date/Time:

Wednesday, October 22, 2025, 9:30 AM

Location:
Basement Community Room
County Government Center
701 Ocean Street, Room 020
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Remote participation options available:

• To participate in public comment via Zoom Webinar, click on this link:                                                                                                                                                       https://santacruzcounty-us.zoomgov.com/j/1617916904
• To participate in public comment by telephone or to listen to the meeting, call:
  (669) 254-5252; Webinar ID: 161 791 6904.

Santa Cruz Changes 139: Cabrillo-UCSC student housing

In a first for this county, Cabrillo College is partnering with UCSC to plan and build student housing on the Cabrillo campus in Aptos. 

The site is adjacent to the outfield fences of the Cabrillo softball/baseball fields. In the aerial photo at right, a bit of Highway 1 can be seen in the lower left corner.

According to a Lookout Santa Cruz article, the project is scheduled to break ground on Sep. 29. The story reports: "Slated to open in fall 2027 with 624 beds — 60%reserved for Cabrillo students — the complex will also feature a child care center, wellness resources and priority housing for low-income and housing-insecure students." 

Santa Cruz Changes 138: two public meetings this week

 

The rendering above is from a Santa Cruz Sentinel article. Below is an aerial image from the architect's proposal plan set, showing existing conditions at the site. Frederick Street is on the left, running top to bottom in the image. Soquel Avenue runs left to right across the top.

Below is info copied from the City's project page. The planned Monday meeting is the first time the public will have an opportunity to see presentation of this proposal, and presumably also to ask questions:

On Wednesday, the County Planning Commission will consider an affordable housing proposal on  Thurber Lane at Soquel Drive. The agenda is here (Item 8).

  

 

Santa Cruz Changes 137: Highway 1 update

A July 30 ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the official opening of the "whale bridge" to pedestrians and bicyclists crossing Highway 1 at Chanticleer Avenue. The bridge completed the first of three phases in CalTrans current plans for the heavily-used freeway. 

During its construction, the usefulness of the bridge suffered two successive blows: first, Kaiser Permanente pulled out of its planned large healthcare development on Soquel Avenue (Hwy 1 frontage road), near the southern end of the new bridge. The main goal of the bridge was to provide a direct walk/bike connection from the new Kaiser facilities to related Dominican/Sutter facilities to the north of the bridge. 

The county reacted to the loss of expected healthcare-related bridge traffic by putting off planned walk/bike improvements to Chanticleer Avenue north of the bridge - most of the street lacks any such non-vehicular amenities (not even sidewalks). It remains to be seen whether future developments will remove the "bridge to nowhere" status. 

The active work sites now move a bit farther east in phase 2 (the eventual phase 3 end point is at Freedom Boulevard). Reconstruction of the Capitola Avenue overpass is scheduled to be completed in November. The narrow old bridge had skinny sidewalks and no bike lanes, so the new wider version will be an improvement.

The Capitola Avenue overpass lies between two interchanges. The westernmost, at Bay Avenue/Porter Street, serves Soquel to the north and Capitola to the south. The next interchange to the east is at Park Avenue, heavily used for access to Cabrillo College. SCCRTC announced that Park Avenue on/off ramps that have been closed for improvements are scheduled to reopen on September 3 (a bit ahead of schedule!). 

In the same announcement, closure of the Bay/Porter interchange was to be the next day, September 4. An update, however, says the closure will be delayed indefinitely, until further notice. No reason was given in the brief update, so we'll watch for news about that.

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.