Santa Cruz County Land Use & Development Articles

Hundreds of new homes slated for Town Center, Scotts Valley Drive.

The California Coastal Commission has broad authority to protect the state's shoreline. Now, some want to curtail its power over affordable housing proposals.

Zoning laws that restrict new housing development cause environmental damage, racial and class segregation, and force people into cars creating traffic. Now, a new movement wants to abolish zoning in the United States.

Almost two years to the day since the Black Lives Matter mural on Center St. was vandalized in an act of hate, the community is coming together to restore the mural. The road leading up to this day has been …

A new report from the Civil Grand Jury takes square aim at the affordable housing crisis in Santa Cruz County and demands local planners do more to tackle the problem. The document, published June 2, finds that while municipal officials …

Zoning laws determine what can be built and where. These laws have shaped California, but are they really just tools for social engineering? The history of zoning is closely tied to racial segregation, as well as the state's shortage of …

The County of Santa Cruz announced a program to assist homeowners in the unincorporated areas of the county with the process of adding an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) to their property.

A local newsroom follows the local, state and federal money spent on homelessness in Santa Cruz County and examines how effectively it was spent.

A new interpretation of an old law gives homebuilders leverage over California cities and their zoning codes. They’re using it to push through thousands of new apartments around the state.

Work has begun on the College Lake Integrated Resources Management Project on Holohan Road in Watsonville. The Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency (PV Water) Board of Directors approved contracts to construct the project on Feb. 1. Heavy equipment has been …

Plans for a four-story, 84-unit apartment complex at 1800 Soquel Ave. were presented to residents in an online meeting Thursday. Neighbors express concerns about height, parking.

May 3 public workshop on city’s General Plan update.

The Santa Cruz City Council approved a seven- and eight-story, 276-unit apartment complex at Front Street and Soquel Avenue in Downtown Santa Cruz.

By almost any measure, the balance between advancing projects critical to California's future and environmental protection under the California Environmental Quality Act has been lost. The failure to reform CEQA is not for a lack of knowing what the solutions …

Neighbors weigh parking, traffic and grocer’s future.

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the construction of a two-story industrial warehouse on the Manabe-Ow property that will allow an existing beer and restaurant supply company to move to a new location. Reyes Holdings, a national wholesaler, …

Plus: Bike lane to be added to Laurel Street, some parking removed.

California lawmakers are exploring ways to reconnect urban neighborhoods torn asunder during the interstate highway construction boom of the 1950s and ’60s.

Shopping malls revolutionized how Americans shopped, socialized, and lived. Now, malls face an uncertain future. How did the dream of a new town square go so wrong?

City council to weigh potential parking changes.