Santa Cruz city planning commissioners Pete Kennedy and Michael Polhamus respond to their colleagues Cyndi Dawson and Sean Maxwell’s contention that the city is not producing enough affordable housing. Kennedy and Polhamus believe demanding unrealistic affordable housing percentages and conditions of approval makes projects infeasible to build. This does not help alleviate the housing affordability crisis, they argue — and it is also against state law. Providing housing for all through the city’s inclusionary zoning and building 100% affordable projects yields the highest proportions of affordable housing possible and helps alleviate pressures in the market, they say.
Development
Posted inHousing & Development
As state-mandated housing plan heads to city council, ‘small town’ Santa Cruz faces its future
The city of Santa Cruz needs to build more than three times as many housing units in the next eight years as it did in the past eight. And the plan coming before the city council Tuesday shows a projected 4,457 units that can be permitted during that time. Most of them would be in along the city’s corridors — Mission, Ocean, Water and River streets and Soquel Avenue.
Posted inHousing & Development
Food Bin and Herb Room project to prioritize tenants without cars, widen sidewalks
Representatives from builder Workbench and owners of the Food Bin and Herb Room hosted a community meeting Tuesday to discuss the Santa Cruz redevelopment project. Attendees raised concerns about neighborhood impacts, pedestrian safety and building size, and meeting hosts explained that it’s a balancing act between maintaining the current environment and attempting to reach state and local housing goals.
Posted inLatest News
Federal court slows a California ban on natural gas appliances
A three-judge panel sided with the California Restaurant Association against a Berkeley policy that “prohibits the installation of natural gas piping within newly constructed buildings.”
Posted inBusiness & Technology
Ask Lookout: What’s in the works for charred Mission Street shopping center?
A run-of-the-mill shopping center is one of the latest parcels in Santa Cruz to be turned into a construction site as it undergoes a facelift and prepares to bring in new tenants. It’s a welcome update for a structure that has seen a fair amount of trouble in recent years.
Posted inUncategorized
Santa Cruz to hold public meeting on mixed-use project for site of Mission Street’s Food Bin & Herb Room
The 42,849-square-foot development would take over the parcel where local grocery stores The Food Bin and Herb Room currently sit. It is still in the pre-application phase, and the City of Santa Cruz is hosting a community meeting April 18 for residents to learn more about the development, ask questions and raise concerns.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
We are planning commissioners: Santa Cruz can and should do better on affordable housing
Two veteran planning commissioners want Santa Cruz decision-makers to require more affordable housing. The city council, Cyndi Dawson and Sean Maxwell say, is too often more aligned with developers.
Posted inEducation
Explainer: Student Housing West construction could begin this year if UC regents approve budget this week
At meetings Wednesday and Thursday of the University of California Board of Regents, UC Santa Cruz officials will ask for almost $146 million to fund building on the school’s East Meadow, at the corner of Hagar and Coolidge drives.
Posted inCoast Life
‘Managed retreat is on the table’: City discusses West Cliff’s future, will explore expanding one-way
Santa Cruzans could soon see West Cliff Drive become a one-way street all the way from Bay Street to Woodrow Avenue as city officials begin to seriously consider implementing a managed retreat strategy for the iconic stretch of coastal road.
Posted inFood & Drink
Santa Cruz farmers market expects to stay on Lot 4 through at least spring 2024
With the library/affordable housing project set to displace the downtown Santa Cruz farmers market from its longtime home on Lot 4, director Nesh Dhillon is targeting year’s end to select its permanent site and aims to choose an interim spot for the market during construction by this summer.