At hearing for 100% affordable project on Santa Cruz’s Westside, neighbors are reminded they have little say

“[That lot] should stay green, no apartments,” one woman said to her neighbor inside Santa Cruz’s city council chambers Wednesday morning. 

“Well, it’s a done deal, they are just going through the motions,” her neighbor replied. 

“That’s so stupid.” 

This neighborly exchange occurred just moments before a public hearing and zoning administrator’s approval for an affordable housing project proposed for 850 Almar Ave., on Santa Cruz’s Westside. The three-story, 38-unit development is envisioned for the vacant, triangular lot across from the Parish Pub. All of the units, either two- or three-bedroom, will be reserved for tenants who make low-to-moderate incomes.

That quick conversation has many of the ingredients now familiar to housing project public hearings these days. The neighbor who opposes building new housing near them, period, and the reality check that public hearings have limited impact on the approval process after changes in state law designed to overcome local opposition to building much-needed affordable housing. 

The project was approved by the city’s zoning administrator, Samantha Haschert, on Wednesday. The project would go to the planning commission only if neighbors appeal the decision within 10 days. 

Ahead of opening the public hearing, Haschert laid out that state law has constrained the city’s and residents’ ability to alter, slow or stop a 100% affordable housing project. The city could require changes to a project only if it were out of compliance with the code’s objective design standards, Haschert said, which are niche rules about building appearance. 

Haschert said state laws allowing expedited review and permitting of affordable housing projects “supercede” the city’s local processes. 

Haschert attempted to soften the blow, explaining that, technically, this project could have gone as tall as 60 feet, with twice as many units. Parking, often a point of contention for neighbors of new multifamily developments in residential neighborhoods, is not required for this site because it’s near a high-frequency transit stop. However, Haschert said the developer, San Diego-based CRP Affordable Housing & Community Development, has chosen to include one on-site parking space per unit. 

All 10 residents — most of whom lived along Rankin Street, which runs adjacent to the project — who showed up for the hearing opposed the project in some form. They complained of the size, the incongruity with the neighborhood and the potential impact on traffic. Many said they were concerned about another project proposed across the street at 831 Almar Ave., and how the two projects together would affect traffic in the neighborhood. That project, designed by local firm Workbench, proposes a six-story, 224,000-square-foot mixed-use project with 120 units. 

Joshua Ralls, project manager for CRP Affordable Housing, told neighbors his company wanted to “provide much-needed affordable housing … while being sensitive to the parking and traffic concerns of the neighborhood.” He noted that the project could have been larger. 

“I got up this morning, I shaved my legs and I was so nervous that I cut my legs,” one woman said before urging the zoning administrator to postpone the project. “I take exception to the state … it seems like it’s got your hands tied. Whatever is proposed to you, in general, is, like, almost destined to be accepted and it really makes it a control issue because they’re not taking into consideration our community.”

After the meeting, one neighbor, Adeline Ochoa, who said she grew up in Santa Cruz, said it was still worth it to show up to public hearings despite their limited impact. 

“They’re going to build on it regardless,” Ochoa said. “But the more important information is just to let them know, whether we like it or not, we should still feel like we have a say in it.”

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