As groups representing landlords and real estate pour millions of dollars into political coffers to influence housing policy, tenant groups are celebrating recent victories.
Housing
Posted inHousing & Development
Civil grand jury dings Scotts Valley, Capitola over affordable housing — and exponential increases are still ahead
By 2031, under state mandates, Capitola will need to boost its affordable housing permitting by roughly 9,000% over what it permitted between 2015 and 2022; Scotts Valley will need to permit 803 new income-restricted units, a more than 4,000% increase. That comes after both jurisdictions struggled to meet state goals from 2015 through 2022, and both come in for criticism in a recent report by Santa Cruz County’s civil grand jury.
Posted inHousing & Development
Which way to the beach? After decades of talking about it, Santa Cruz is finally poised to connect downtown to the beach
Making the transition from downtown to the beach seamless has been a goal of city leaders for years, and now Santa Cruz is poised to convert the area south of Laurel Street into a busy, pedestrian-friendly part of town, similar to a few blocks north. A new housing complex on Center Street is to be called Calypso, a six-story building with more than 200 units of market-rate and affordable housing.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Pogonip homeless encampment clearing to stretch into July as some residents head to armory
Crews contracted by the City of Santa Cruz, aided by police, continued the second phase of clearing out Pogonip encampments Monday. Daniel Extine of Clean Team Associates, the Santa Cruz-based company contracted by the city to do most of the clearing, said workers expect to have all six phases of the cleanup completed by mid-July. Residents such as Santos Martinez, 58, were preparing to move to the armory.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Keeley’s grassroots vision for Santa Cruz’s housing bond has been messy and complicated
Mayor Fred Keeley wants Santa Cruz community members to take the lead in drafting a housing bond measure to put before the city’s voters in 2024. But to this point, the process for this “citizen legislature” has been an uneven one.
Posted inLatest News
Are you a renter in California? Here’s what to know about tenant protections lawmakers are considering
California lawmakers introduced bills this year to strengthen rules against high rents and evictions. Landlords and realtors are fighting back.
Posted inEducation
Joint Cabrillo College-UCSC 624-bed housing project moving forward; public forum Monday
State Sen. John Laird said he’s “very optimistic” that the state will put $111 million toward a 624-bed student housing project being jointly developed by Cabrillo College and UC Santa Cruz. On Monday, Cabrillo College and UC Santa Cruz staff will discuss the joint housing proposal, its environmental impact reports and the possibility of the state grant. The meeting will be held in the Horticulture Building on Cabrillo’s Aptos campus.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Santa Cruz now eyes June 2024 for affordable-housing bond election after community members request more time
After initially aiming for a March 2024 vote, community members participating in drafting a long-sought affordable-housing bond measure in the city of Santa Cruz said Wednesday they wanted more time. Now, sights are set on a June 2024 special election.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
After very public Benchlands clearing, Santa Cruz taking quieter approach with Pogonip homeless encampment
In this edition of In the Public Interest, Christopher Neely looks at what’s different about efforts beginning Monday to clear the homeless encampment in Pogonip from how the City of Santa Cruz moved residents out of the San Lorenzo River Benchlands last fall.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Problems at your mobile home park? Here’s how to alert California officials
California officials depend largely on residents filing complaints to find out about health and safety problems at mobile home parks. Here’s how to file a complaint.
