Quick Take
A new Santa Cruz street sweeping pilot program that threatens to tow cars violating its parking restrictions can move forward following a unanimous vote from the California Coastal Commission.
The City of Santa Cruz’s pilot street sweeping initiative that threatens to tow idle cars along the curb can move forward after the California Coastal Commission voted unanimously to reject an appeal claiming the program unfairly targeted people living in their cars.
In August, the Santa Cruz City Council green-lit the pilot to launch on the lower and upper Westside and Seabright by fall 2024. On Tuesdays and Thursdays in Seabright and the lower Westside, and Wednesdays and Fridays on the upper Westside, the city will prohibit parking on alternating sides of the street between 5 and 7 a.m. so a sweeper vehicle can access curbs where trash and debris gravitate. Cars violating the parking rules will first receive warnings that would elevate to citations and possibly tow-aways for further violations. The city’s existing street sweeping program does not require a curb cleared of cars, nor does it threaten any sort of towing.
Reggie Meisler of local homeless advocacy group Santa Cruz Cares appealed the city council decision to the Coastal Commission, a state agency that oversees land use across 1,100 miles of California’s coastline. Meisler argued the program was hostile toward people living in their cars, and by threatening to tow unmoved vehicles, worked to limit coastal access.
The Coastal Commission, which has jurisdiction over only the lower Westside portion of the street sweeping program — stretches of Mission Street Extension, Natural Bridges Drive, Delaware Avenue and Swanton Boulevard — disagreed. Staff recommended against the appeal, and the 12-member board of commissioners voted unanimously Thursday to not take up Meisler’s appeal.
Neither Meisler, nor anyone from Santa Cruz Cares, attended the meeting for the vote, and none of the commissioners made any comments. Commissioner Justin Cummings, a former Santa Cruz mayor and current District 3 Santa Cruz County supervisor, was absent due to a cold. His alternate, Charles Striplen, seconded the motion to not take up the appeal.
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