Santa Cruz Changes 152: Two informational presentations next week

The City of Santa Cruz announced two pre-application "virtual community meetings" upcoming next week to introduce the public to a pair of new mixed-use development proposals.

On Monday, the subject will be 617 Water Street (webinar link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81250325525, city project page: 617 Water Street, CP26-0016). The site is a narrow lot on the north side of Water Street, just east of Branciforte Creek.

 On Tuesday, it's 930 Mission Street (webinar link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81734464595, city project page: 930 Mission Street, CP26-0015). The site is at the northwest corner of Mission and Otis (Otis is one street south of Walnut Avenue.

We'll take a closer look at each of those proposals if/when they become actual permit applications. Here's a screen shot of the city informational email.

 

Santa Cruz Changes 151: the "off-site" option

 This week, the City of Santa Cruz Planning Commission will likely approve (it's on the consent agenda) the development permit application for the Neptune Apartments parcels at 407-415 Pacific Avenue (see Changes 147). As noted in the earlier post, ". . .  this development will have 100% "affordable" (below-market-rate-rent) units. That's happening because of a recent city rule that allowed the development proposed for 201 Front Street (see Changes 126) to be 100% market-rate, in return for 100% below-market-rate in another location." The City's notice reads:

The SC City Planning Commission will meet Thursday, April 16 at 7:00 pm at City Council Chambers, 809 Center Street in Santa Cruz. Click HERE for the agenda. Agenda items include:

Consent Public Hearing Agenda

• 407-415 Pacific Avenue – Coastal Permit, Residential Demolition Authorization Permit, Nonresidential Demolition Authorization Permit, Lot Line Adjustment, Design Permit, and Density Bonus request to demolish the existing buildings and construct an 8-story, 102-unit, 100-percent affordable apartment building with ground floor commercial space serving as the off-site affordable housing required for redevelopment of 201 Front Street (CP25-0116) on a parcel located in the CBD/CZ-O/FP-O (Central Business District/Coastal Zone Overlay/Floodplain Overlay) zone district and within the South of Laurel Area of the Downtown Plan. Environmental Review: Statutory Exemption pursuant to Public Resources Code Section 21080.66. This project requires a Coastal Permit which is not appealable to the California Coastal Commission.

Although I haven't had the chance to quiz anyone who knows how this works, I presume that the reason a developer might want to use the "off-site" option for meeting affordability inclusion requirements is that if an entire building is "affordable", then construction costs can be reduced more by reducing amenity levels for a whole building than if it's done on a unit-by-unit basis. 

This is not the first use of the "off-site" rule, and it probably won't be the last.  

Santa Cruz Changes 150: Affordable housing news

Current City of Santa Cruz multifamily development projects come in all shapes and sizes: from the all-market-rate River Row (Changes 9) to the all-below-market-rate Pacific Station North (Changes 22), and various mixes of the two. Now comes news from Santa Cruz Local about significant changes for two projects that have already received all necessary City planning approvals, but have not yet begun construction.

At 136 River Street (Changes 76), a 50-unit all-below-market-rate project on the former Outdoor World site received its building permit in March. Construction is expected to begin this year.

At 130 Center Street (Changes 54), a 233-unit project originally approved as entirely market-rate is now 100% below-market-rate. The site near Depot Park (photo below) was formerly home to several auto-related businesses.

Santa Cruz Changes 149: Openings and zoning changes

One of the images in Changes 148 was a photo I took from the top of the wide steps at River Row, the now-opening mixed-use project on Front Street. The photo at right is from farther back in the courtyard.

This Thursday, March 12, there will be an opening celebration from 11 am to 1 pm. Other openings include five new downtown businesses that have opened since the beginning of 2026. The City of Santa Cruz newsletter for March gave this list:

* Anthropologie – 1134 Pacific Ave.
* Alley Oop [bistro] – 320 Cedar St.
* Switch Bakery – 1016 Cedar St.
* Rock Salt Pilates – 1106 Pacific Ave.
* Palmetto Super Foods – 1335 Pacific Ave. 

One more notable recent opening: the Murray Street bridge over the harbor has reopened to 2-way traffic. For now, traffic will be alternating directions in the one open lane.

In zoning news, Santa Cruz will be considering a zoning overlay for the Coral Street area, in support of the temporary housing services provided by Housing Matters. The city's plan for this move can be found here. 

Out in Capitola, the city is slowly working toward a rezoning of the Capitola Mall that will allow mixed-use development, as described in the linked Sentinel article. More info can be found in Changes 141.

Santa Cruz Changes 148: The View From Here

For many years now, when developers submit proposals for public review, they often include sun studies - renderings of the shadows cast by proposed structures at various hours of the day and times of year. These studies are required because virtually all newly-proposed buildings are now much taller than the existing structures they will replace, and neighbors are rightly concerned about their loss of solar access.

A less-studied aspect of new development is its effect on view corridors. In the past, this topic mostly came up when residents protested potential loss of their ocean views, but downtown areas also have views. These are often restricted to corridors above streets, narrow canyons between tall buildings on either side. But those narrow corridors can also provide surprisingly-pleasant views, just as a camera focuses attention on a view by restricting the framing of a scene.

Those accidental corridor views, however, are often temporary. The photo above (from Pacific Avenue) shows what's happening to the view on the Lincoln Street corridor as the new central library project goes up. The existing view of historical and picturesque Calvary Episcopal Church (granted, it's the less-interesting rear of the building) is gradually being blocked as the new building rises.

However, view corridors can also be created and/or enhanced. The pedestrian areas of the soon-to-open mixed-use project on Front Street are new connections between downtown and the levee-top Riverwalk. The photo at left, taken from the top of the steps leading down to Front and Cathcart streets, shows the new view from there.

And, at the other end of short Cathcart Street is another of the new paseos that are another part of city planning to increase walkability. See Changes 57, which describes the changes at both ends of Cathcart.

Santa Cruz Changes 147: South of Laurel apartments public presentation

 

A proposed 8-story apartment tower will have a public Zoom presentation on Monday, Jan. 26 (the linked article has meeting info). The image at right is a rendering supplied by the developer.

The building will replace 10-units of 1-story motel-style housing called "Neptune Apartments", and two commercial buildings currently located at 407-413 Pacific Avenue.

The city website has more information about the proposal. One interesting wrinkle is that this development will have 100% below-market-rate-rent units. That's happening because of a recent city rule that allowed the development proposed for 201 Front Street (see Changes 126) to be 100% market-rate, in return for 100% below-market-rate in another location. 

The image at left shows the current appearance of 407-413 Pacific Ave. 

Santa Cruz Changes 146: A New Neighbor for Dominican Oaks

This week, the Santa Cruz County Planning Commission (agenda here) is expected to approve an application to replace a single-family residence at 3500 Paul Sweet Road with a 6-story apartment building. 

There's a link in the agenda to the Planning Dept. Staff report, which includes the developer's plan set.

Three sides of the parcel not fronting on the road are abutted by the Dominican Oaks retirement community. The image above right is a rendering submitted by the developer. Below is a similar view of the property, as seen today from Paul Sweet Road.

Update: The Planning Commission did not approve the application on Jan. 17, as expected, but instead delayed consideration of the application to a future date TDB.