Organizers of a petition to give voters the power to approve tall buildings in the city of Santa Cruz say they have gathered enough signatures to place a measure on the March primary ballot. The initiative from the group known as Housing for People would require voter approval for proposed new developments that exceed current zoning limits and would enforce affordable housing requirements in large multi-family projects. The initiative comes in response to a downtown expansion plan that sparked controversy with its proposal for 12-story buildings.
In the Public Interest
A Monday newsletter covering Santa Cruz County politics & policy from Lookout – subscribe here.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Why is Santa Cruz County so bullish on hydrogen-powered public transit?
Santa Cruz Metro recently made the largest single purchase of hydrogen buses in the country. Electric battery power dominates the zero-emission transportation sector, but the county opted for hydrogen in part to tackle the challenges posed by the region’s hilly terrain. The decision comes with its fair share of risks and barriers, most significantly the high cost of hydrogen.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
District 1 county supervisor race raises specter of Measure D’s battle over Coastal Rail Trail
The 2024 elections are more than a year away, but the race for District 1 Santa Cruz County supervisor is already heating up. Incumbent Manu Koenig and challenger Lani Faulkner both accuse the other of being single-issue candidates. That single issue? The long-envisioned coastal passenger rail line connecting Davenport and Watsonville, known as the Coastal Rail Trail project.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Santa Cruz city leaders look to sales tax measure to fund homeless services as state grant set to run out
The Homelessness Response Action Plan has been the City of Santa Cruz’s working policy document on homelessness since March 2022, and has guided its approach to connecting people on the street with services, shelter and permanent housing. However, the plan was largely shaped around a $14 million state grant that will run out next July, leaving funding for one of the region’s more successful homelessness strategies in question just as its momentum is beginning to build.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
After months of inactivity, a city council seat in Santa Cruz suddenly becomes highly competitive
Three candidates — Gabriela Trigueiro, David Tannaci and Jasmeen Miah — have so far thrown their hats into the ring to represent District 1, in the northeast section of the city of Santa Cruz. Each spoke with Christopher Neely about why they’re running in the March 5 election.
Posted inEnvironment
A new, sophisticated sea-level rise study will drive Santa Cruz County’s coastline policies on climate change
Historically hesitant to adopt the state’s philosophy on how to handle sea level rise and an eroding coastline, Santa Cruz County just received nearly $1 million from the California Coastal Commission for its most sophisticated sea level rise vulnerability study to date. One top county official said the study will drive the county’s coastline strategy on climate change.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas’s bill could speed Pajaro River levee repairs by skipping state environmental rules
With long-promised repairs to the Pajaro River levee in danger of being slowed by California Environmental Quality Act requirements, Speaker Robert Rivas — whose district includes the Pajaro Valley — is overhauling a bill before the State Assembly with the aim of getting the project started sooner.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Questions still swirl around the city of Santa Cruz’s housing bond
It’s still not clear what form an effort to put Santa Cruzans’ dollars toward affordable housing will take, but that and other details could be resolved in the coming months as a citizens group irons things out.
Posted inLatest News
As Pajaro River levee repairs begin, questions remain around the long-sought replacement
Crews are working to repair the levee whose failure flooded the town of Pajaro in March, but the permitting requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act are among the obstacles that might delay the start of larger, systemwide repairs into 2025.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Katie Porter in Santa Cruz: ‘I went to Washington to write the rules’
Santa Cruz is on the campaign trail with Dianne Feinstein’s U.S. Senate seat up for grabs in 2024. With the March 5 primary coming up fast, Orange County Rep. Katie Porter got a standing ovation from a crowd of 175 on Sunday in downtown Santa Cruz. With her whiteboard and change-making mantra, Porter brings a generational mojo to the contest. On Tuesday, Rep. Adam Schiff, her main opponent according to polls, meets and greets the local Democratic crowd. Christopher Neely interviewed Porter over coffee at Verve.
