Yes on Measure M: Give the people a direct voice in Santa Cruz’s future

Quick Take

Proponent Frank Barron makes a case for Measure M for voters in the city of Santa Cruz.

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Measure M gives the public a direct voice in the future of Santa Cruz. It does it in two ways.

First, Measure M will let people vote before the city’s rules governing building heights can be changed. This gives local residents power.

Second, Measure M will increase the amount of affordable housing developers will have to include in their projects. This will help the affordability crisis.

Voters shouldn’t be distracted or confused. It’s simple. Do they want the above two things? If so, they should vote yes on M.

Measure M will bolster democracy by requiring a majority vote before the city’s general plan or zoning ordinance can be amended to allow buildings above existing height limits – limits that are already quite high, at five to eight stories in most of downtown and south of Laurel Street. Passing Measure M would also mean the developers must get voter approval before current height limits can be raised to allow the multiple, unspecified number of 12-story high-rises currently proposed in the 29 acres south of Laurel (that’s twice as tall as the new building at Pacific and Laurel).

Measure M will also boost affordable housing by increasing the percentage of required affordable units from the current 20% to 25% (in projects of 30-plus units). The city’s planning commission recommended a similar change, but the city council refused to adopt it. Now, voters can adopt it.

Many recent housing developments in Santa Cruz have only 11%-13% of their units dedicated to low- and moderate-income households. This is due to the state density bonus law, which dilutes the city’s currently required 20% affordable rate down to a net of only 11%-13%. A “yes” vote on Measure M will increase the amount of affordable housing that developers are required to build by 5%, so the net affordable percentage will be a more reasonable 16%-18% in these projects.

Don’t believe the falsehoods.

M does not require a vote for small projects like over-height fences and accessory dwelling units (ADUs), or the five-story homeless housing project in Harvey West – these do not need a zoning ordinance amendment, so no citywide election would be required under Measure M.

M does not slow production of affordable housing – Santa Cruz is a lucrative real estate market, and developers will still be building here, even if they have to build 5% more units affordable to moderate- and lower-income folks. And there is plenty of room to meet the state mandate of 3,700 units under existing zoning (no need to upzone!).

M does not create sprawl – higher density (five to eight stories) is already allowed in downtown and south of Laurel. Elections under Measure M happen only if developers want to build the 12-, 17- and 22-story towers they have proposed, then the people can decide.

M does not push high density into the “neighborhoods” – Measure M actually protects the outlying neighborhoods by requiring an election when developers want to build higher than the typically allowed two to three stories there.

Frank Barron has lived in the county since 1969, and in the city of Santa Cruz most of the time since 1980. He is a retired urban planner, with 30 years’ experience working in the Monterey Bay region. He holds a master’s degree in urban planning from San Jose State University (1992) and a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from UC Santa Cruz (1985).