Quick Take
Santa Cruz County has approved a preapplication for a Workbench-led housing development on Capitola Road in Live Oak that has changed considerably since its inception three years ago. However, residents in the area are still displeased with the project as they await public hearings on the development.
A housing project planned for Capitola Road in Live Oak is continuing to move through the development process, now scaled back to 57 units from 63. However, residents who live nearby still disapprove of the five-story building.
The 57-unit rental project, slated for 841 Capitola Rd., is headed by local development and architecture firm Workbench, and has changed considerably since it was first proposed in 2022, mostly due to the cost.
The vision was first described as 15 single-family homes each with their own attached accessory dwelling unit (ADU), which would have meant 30 units in total. However, Workbench CEO Tim Gordin told Lookout previously that these homes were intended for “entry-level ownership,” and by 2023, higher mortgage rates led the firm to change the project to an apartment building.
Earlier this year, the project was planned for 63 units. County Community Development and Infrastructure spokesperson Tiffany Martinez confirmed that Workbench has downsized the project to 57 units, but said the county did not know why. Gordin did not respond to Lookout’s request for comment.
The project attempts to use the state’s builder’s remedy mechanism, which allows developers to bypass local zoning laws if a jurisdiction does not comply with state housing development requirements. In this instance, the county’s housing element was out of compliance at the time the project was proposed.
Despite the minor reduction in the number of units, Live Oak residents who live near the proposed project site say they remain concerned about the impacts it will have on the surrounding neighborhood.
“The impact on parking, the sheer size of the structure and the fact it just doesn’t fit into the community remains unchanged,” said Grey Seal Road resident Mike Reis. He added that he’s specifically concerned about the prospect of traffic getting funneled through the neighborhood.
Reis added that Workbench conducted a traffic study, which the county requested when it initially reviewed the project. While the study showed that there would be no meaningful impact on the traffic at the intersections of Grey Seal Road and Capitola Road and Capitola Road and 7th Avenue, residents still believe congestion would worsen with the development. And that nothing else in the project has changed to quell the residents’ other concerns. “It’s still a five-story building with balconies that overlook all of our properties,” Reis said. “It doesn’t change any of that stuff.”
Reis said the neighbors plan to raise their issues with the county when the public hearings are scheduled. Martinez said that there are no hearings scheduled for the project as of this week, but that it is likely that any hearings would take place in late August or early September. Those could be in front of the county board of supervisors or planning commission.
Martinez said that some of the proposal is still under review as it approaches the building permit stage. A county staff report on the project will provide more details, and will be posted to the planning commission’s agenda webpage no less than a week before the hearing once it is scheduled.
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