City of Santa Cruz Government News

A report raises questions about whether the City of Santa Cruz is properly tracking who lives in “inclusionary units”—those set aside as affordable housing—within the city to make sure preference is given to Santa Cruz residents.

A bustling neighborhood and a new 3,200-seat arena for the Santa Cruz Warriors are part of a plan to transform Downtown Santa Cruz in the coming years.

A new draft of Santa Cruz’s downtown expansion plan calls for buildings up to eight stories and wider sidewalks south of Laurel Street, as well as a permanent, larger Kaiser Permanente Arena for the Santa Cruz Warriors basketball team.

The Santa Cruz City Council unanimously approved a 48-unit housing project at the current site of the Food Bin and Herb Room on May 28 after the developer submitted plans for 59 units on the site.

The results are in: the City of Santa Cruz was the sole local government in Santa Cruz County to meet state targets for affordable housing over the past eight years.

As the City of Santa Cruz weans itself from the last of its Covid relief money, a draft city budget presented May 28 avoids service cuts but leaves gaps in long-term savings and investments.

The contentious debate over whether city leaders should approve a dispensary operating near Santa Cruz High School has come to a close. The Santa Cruz City Council voted 6-1 on May 13 to greenlight The Hook Outlet, a dispensary at the former site of Emily’s Bakery on the corner of Mission and Laurel Streets.

Local governments across Santa Cruz County are crafting their budgets for the coming fiscal year, with some due at the end of June.

A proposed cannabis dispensary at the former Emily’s Bakery on Mission Street was approved by the Santa Cruz City Council on Tuesday despite school administrators’ arguments that it was too close to a high school and a middle school. 

On the asphalt levee of the San Lorenzo River, a half mile from where the river mouth spills into the ocean, a huddle of mustard yellow shirts awaits instructions.

At a community meeting Tuesday, developers unveiled plans for a three-story building that could bring 38 affordable homes to the Westside.

After years of losing teachers to areas with lower housing costs, leaders of Santa Cruz City Schools are trying to keep staff by offering less expensive homes. 

Leaders of Santa Cruz Police and Santa Cruz Fire have a new $20 million training center in their long-term plans to replace outdated facilities inside and outside the city.