New Zoning Standards Project Emphasizes Diverse Perspectives In Santa Cruz

Press release from the City of Santa Cruz:

March 4, 2021

Santa Cruz – As a part of its project to create new zoning standards for multi-family and mixed-use housing, the City of Santa Cruz has begun a focused effort to include lower-income households and residents living in multi-family housing – both affordable and market-rate – in its engagement process.

To that end, the City will host its first community event for the Objective Development Standards project this month. This webinar will take place twice during March 2021, once in English and once in Spanish. These events will also be recorded and made available through the project website for those unable to attend the live events.

English-language webinar

Thursday, March 11, 7 p.m. via Zoom

Seminario web en Español

Miercoles, 24 de marzo. 7 p.m. via Zoom

More information is available on the project website: https://www.cityofsantacruz.com/Home/Components/Topic/Topic/11282/3916

The events will feature a presentation on the history of housing in Santa Cruz presented by Gretchen Regenhart, formerly of California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc, and Diana Alfaro, Project Manager for MidPen Housing. After the presentation, City staff will introduce the project and inform the community about zoning tools that can address some poor practices of the past.

“We hope the event will give attendees the vocabulary needed to provide meaningful input later on in the process,” Senior Planner and project lead Sarah Neuse said

The impetus for the Objective Development Standards project comes from changes in California state law that now requires cities and counties to use only development standards that can be objectively defined and measured when reviewing applications for new housing development. These objective standards could include building heights, required setbacks from adjacent property, requirements for the number, size, placement of windows, standards for landscaping and lighting, or other quantifiable, measurable features of buildings and property. The goal of the change in the state law is to support the development of new housing in communities across California.

The City of Santa Cruz municipal code currently has only a few development regulations that are objective and measurable. Through this project, the City will write more specific standards to ensure that new multi-family housing and mixed-use development projects enhance the built environment of Santa Cruz and create comfortable new homes for residents.

This press release was produced by the City of Santa Cruz. The views expressed here are the author’s own.