State authorities require Santa Cruz County workers to allow 4,634 new houses in unincorporated areas of the county over the following eight years. That variety of new houses is greater than 3 times the county’s earlier, unmet goal.
At a Nov. 14 assembly, the county supervisors voted unanimously to submit a brand new draft of the Housing Aspect of the county’s Normal Plan. Maps in the plan are practically an identical to these in a September draft.
The supervisors additionally voted unanimously to:
- Put aside 4 acres for open house at a virtually 14 acre former golf course at 2600 Mar Vista Drive in Aptos. The property is predicted to be rezoned to permit 430 houses. County workers really helpful 2-4 acres put aside, and Santa Cruz County Supervisor Zach Pal pushed for 4 acres.
- Add a requirement to switch demolished reasonably priced housing. Santa Cruz County Supervisor Justin Cummings steered the change.
- Add a requirement that new rental developments with 5 or extra models have at the very least 15% of models reasonably priced, primarily based on state income limits. Earlier guidelines didn’t embody leases. Cummings steered the change.
- Enable county workers to make adjustments to the plan wanted for approval by the state with out board approval. County workers can take away the adjustments proposed by Pal and Cummings if the state objects to them.
State housing necessities
California authorities require cities and counties to replace part of their Normal Plan known as the Housing Element each eight years with new plans to fulfill state housing targets. When areas don’t make sufficient progress on these targets, state regulation permits streamlined approval of some housing initiatives and limits to the veto energy of metropolis or county leaders on housing proposals.
- The Regional Housing Wants Allocation, as decided by the Affiliation of Monterey Bay Space Governments, requires 4,634 new houses to be permitted in unincorporated Santa Cruz County from 2023 to 2031. The cities of Santa Cruz, Watsonville, Scotts Valley and Capitola every have their very own assigned housing targets that aren’t included within the county’s plan.
- Santa Cruz County’s draft Housing Element consists of plans to permit 6,431 new houses. Houses may very well be inbuilt areas the place zoning may change, vacant land, county-owned land and “underutilized” websites, based on the draft plan.
- The county has submitted quite a few draft Housing Parts for approval by the California Division of Housing and Group Improvement. County workers have continued to alter the draft to handle suggestions from state authorities.
Santa Cruz County’s November Housing Aspect consists of minor adjustments from the September draft county workers mentioned. It has additional clarification of town’s present housing insurance policies and deliberate efforts to help housing improvement. Two new housing initiatives in improvement were added, and one accomplished improvement was eliminated.
District 5 Supervisor Bruce McPherson requested county workers on the Nov. 14 assembly whether or not {the electrical} grid and local water supply could support the anticipated new housing.
“Any improvement sooner or later will probably be required to have a certificates of availability from the water supplier and the sewer supplier,” mentioned Stephanie Hansen, assistant director of the county’s division of neighborhood improvement and infrastructure. Nonetheless, greater than city improvement, it’s “agricultural makes use of that basically influence water,” she mentioned.
The plan encourages new houses to be constructed in additional city elements of the county, moderately than rural areas extra liable to energy outages, Hansen mentioned.
Joanna Carmen, the director of housing for nonprofit developer MidPen Housing, mentioned the Housing Aspect is required to create extra alternatives for reasonably priced and market-rate housing. MidPen has reasonably priced housing initiatives within the works throughout the San Francisco Bay Space and Santa Cruz County.
“Our waitlist exceeds over 66,000 households for our present 750 condominium houses,” Carmen mentioned through the Nov. 14 assembly. “The county must make the most of all of the instruments at its disposal to extend multifamily housing improvement.”
Development began in 2021 on neighborhood well being and dental clinics and the Bienestar Flats on the 1500 block of Capitola Street in Dwell Oak. The clinics are open and the flats are practically completed. (Stephen Baxter — Santa Cruz Native)
The 4 cities in Santa Cruz County are required to have state-approved Housing Parts by Dec. 15.
Leaders from the cities of Santa Cruz, Capitola and Scotts Valley. have submitted a number of drafts to the state and have acquired rounds of feedback with out approval.
- Metropolis of Santa Cruz workers created a new draft Housing Element in response to feedback from the state. The town council is slated to vote on the draft at its Dec. 12 assembly.
- Capitola leaders await approval or additional feedback from the state after submitting a draft Housing Element authorised by metropolis council Nov. 9.
- Scotts Valley leaders await approval or additional feedback from the state after submitting a draft Housing Element Oct. 20.
- Watsonville leaders plan to submit a Housing Aspect by the top of the 12 months, mentioned Watsonville Principal Planner Matt Orbach. In October, town council authorised the Downtown Specific Plan, which identifies some websites for potential housing improvement.
Reasonably priced housing necessities
The county requires that 15% of houses be reasonably priced in developments with 5 or extra houses which are on the market. The rule doesn’t embody rental properties, Cummings mentioned.
Cummings proposed:
- Including a 15% reasonably priced housing requirement for rental developments with 5 or extra models.
- Including a rule that if reasonably priced houses are demolished to make method for a brand new improvement, the developer should exchange the misplaced houses with an equal variety of reasonably priced houses on the identical web site. The substitute houses wouldn’t depend in the direction of the 15% requirement.
County workers mentioned housing proposals since 2018 sometimes embody reasonably priced housing as a result of they apply for a density bonus. Density bonus initiatives might be taller and embody extra houses than zoning would in any other case permit.
Cummings mentioned the county ought to have its personal guidelines that apply to all housing initiatives with greater than 4 houses, even when they don’t have a density bonus. “There’s no assure that each one the initiatives that come earlier than us will probably be density bonus initiatives,” he mentioned.
Throughout public remark, rural Aptos resident Becky Steinbruner mentioned she supported efforts to reintroduce reasonably priced housing necessities for rental properties. “It’s essential, as a result of the majority of the folks listed below are renters,” she mentioned
Debate over former Aptos golf course
District 2 Supervisor Zach Pal continued to advocate for extra public house at a former golf course in Aptos that’s slated to be rezoned to permit improvement. The land is in County Supervisor District 2 represented by Pal.
The county’s draft Housing Aspect would permit 430 new houses at 2600 Mar Vista Drive in Aptos. The practically 14-acre web site is at a former par 3 golf course that closed in 1999 and was a local plant nursery till 2018. The land is zoned for parks, recreation and open house.
At Pal’s suggestion, the board in September directed county workers to contemplate requiring that a few of the property be put aside for public house. Tuesday, county workers really helpful setting 2 to 4 acres apart for open house.
Santa Cruz County’s draft Housing Aspect would permit 430 new houses at a former golf course at 2600 Mar Vista Drive in Aptos. Santa Cruz County Supervisor Zach Pal advocated for senior housing and a park on the positioning. (Jesse Kathan — Santa Cruz Native file)
Workers steered to find out the dimensions and design of open house after the Housing Aspect has been authorised by the state. Pal proposed altering the draft plan to specify that 4 acres be put aside for open house. That “nonetheless maintains over 70% of the parcel for housing,” Pal mentioned.
“It’s a bit of irritating that the one massive web site within the second district (the previous golf course) that has been thought-about has been lowered and lowered,”mentioned Supervisor Manu Koenig, who represents District 1. Most websites thought-about for rezoning are inside District 1, he mentioned.
A lawyer for advocacy group The Aptos Council mentioned the positioning was wanted for public recreation. “The neighborhood has lengthy rejected the positioning as an space for housing,” mentioned Antoinette Ranit, a lawyer for Wittwer Parkin LLP, throughout public remark. Rezoning the property to permit housing would legally require extra intensive environmental evaluation, she mentioned.
A Housing Aspect map submitted to state authorities this month reveals areas for potential new houses in Aptos and Soquel. Capitola has a separate draft Housing Aspect. (County of Santa Cruz)
A Housing Aspect map submitted to state authorities this month reveals areas for potential new houses in Dwell Oak. Santa Cruz and Capitola have separate draft Housing Parts. (County of Santa Cruz)
County workers cautioned in opposition to altering the reasonably priced housing necessities and plans for the Aptos golf course within the Housing Aspect.
“It’s essential that we get to compliance as quickly as potential,” mentioned Hansen, the county staffer who helped write the plan. With the proposed adjustments, “we really feel involved that which will delay certification.”
As soon as the plan is submitted, state authorities have 60 days to evaluation it. State leaders may settle for the plan or return it for additional revisions, county workers mentioned.
If the county doesn’t have a state-approved Housing Aspect by Dec. 15, the county could be ineligible for some state funding. It may additionally streamline approval of housing improvement wherever within the unincorporated county, with restricted enter from county leaders or workers, till the Housing Aspect is licensed by the state.
Pal mentioned it was unlikely that the plan wouldn’t be authorised earlier than the deadline.
