The Cruz Hotel, developer Owen Lawlor’s latest local venture, cleared the Santa Cruz City Council on Tuesday with overwhelming support. However, the much-debated downtown hotel could still face another political hurdle if the project is appealed to the California Coastal Commission.
California Coastal Commission
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Fresh batch of YIMBY housing bills clash with coastal protections (again)
After a legislative victory last year, pro-housing legislators and advocates want to strip the California Coastal Commission of more authority in order to spur housing development.
Posted inAptos
On the fence: What homeowners, renters and neighbors are saying about Rio Del Mar HOA’s new coastal barrier
Lookout photojournalist Kevin Painchaud caught up with beachfront homeowners, renters and nearby residents to chat about a Rio Del Mar homeowners association’s decision to put up a large fence blocking access to a walkway along Seacliff State Beach.
Posted inLatest News
In the face of $4.8 million fine, Rio Del Mar HOA doubles down and erects a new coastal fence
What’s in a fence? For a Rio Del Mar homeowners association, state regulators and local residents, a brand-new barrier blocking the public from a beachside walkway represents the latest turn in a winding, yearslong battle around public access and private property rights.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
County picks sole bidder for sea-level rise study over objections by coastal property owners
Santa Cruz County has chosen a local team to guide its study on sea-level rise, an analysis that will determine how the region adapts to climate change in the decades to come. Integral Consulting was the lone firm to submit a bid of the eight from which the county requested proposals.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Long-debated oversized vehicle law seeks five-year enforcement horizon
Director of Community Development Lee Butler said the approval allows the city to enforce the ordinance for five years, rather than one, before it needs to renew the coastal development permit again. He said staff made this decision in coordination with the California Coastal Commission to provide the city more time to make adjustments and address issues that will inevitably come up.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
License plate readers, primary endorsements, Felton pump track among final local political votes of 2023
Last week, local governments took some big votes they had pushed off to the final meetings of the year, a state agency made an unprecedented decision in a decades-old Santa Cruz County controversy, and the county’s Democratic machine picked the people and measures it wants to see succeed in the March 5 primary.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Aptos HOA fined $4.8 million by state, ordered to open blocked coastal path
The California Coastal Commission unanimously voted to fine an Aptos homeowners association nearly $5 million for blocking access to a pedestrian path along Seacliff State Beach that the state had ordered to be public. The penalty is the largest fine issued by the Coastal Commission in Santa Cruz County.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Coastal Commission weighs $4.7M fine for Rio Del Mar homeowners
Meeting at the Dream Inn in Santa Cruz, the California Coastal Commission could vote Thursday to sanction the Rio Del Mar Beach Island Homeowners Association in a long-running dispute over public access.
Posted inEnvironment
Can California continue to fight the ocean? A new book argues for new approaches
As last winter made clear all over Santa Cruz County, nothing is permanent when confronted with the power of the Pacific. In “California Against the Sea,” Los Angeles Times journalist Rosanna Xia examines the postwar coastal development boom and the daunting challenges facing the 27 million Californians who live in the coastal zone as sea-level rise and coastal erosion become urgent facts of life. She’ll talk about it Tuesday at Bookshop Santa Cruz.