Santa Cruz County Land Use & Development Articles

A developer that wants to build a combination storage-and-office building at 125 Bethany Dr. at the northern end of Scotts Valley has a little more work to do to get the project over the finish line.

Watsonville Community Hospital could soon be owned by the Pajaro Valley Healthcare District. PVHD announced a plan to purchase the building and surrounding property, a major milestone in a years-long endeavor to return the facility to public ownership.

A housing proposal on the 1800 block of Mission Street in Santa Cruz grew from three stories to six-stories in a new design. (Workbench)
SANTA CRUZ >> A proposed six-story apartment building on Mission Street would provide college students and …

A proposed development on Graham Hill Road would include 117 single-family homes and 44 townhomes. (Fletemeyer & Lee Associates Inc.)
SANTA CRUZ >> Forty acres of horse pasture on Graham Hill Road near Rollingwoods Drive could be transformed into a …

The Watsonville City Council on Tuesday expressed frustration at a new planned tiny village community for homeless people slated for the parking lot of Westview Presbyterian Church at 118 First St.

August 2024 marked the four-year anniversary of the CZU Lightning Complex Fire ripping through the Santa Cruz Mountains. Through fundraisers, educational forums and memorial events, residents—including victims of the fire who remain in the area—have gathered to support and assist …

A tent camp floods at the benchlands of San Lorenzo Park in Santa Cruz in December 2021. (Stephen Baxter — Santa Cruz Local file)
Key takeaways

Over 70 residents of the St. George Apartments in downtown Santa Cruz are breathing a sigh of relief after the Santa Cruz City Council took a big step toward adopting an ordinance extending rental increase protections for renters like them. …

A tour of the Cotoni-Coast Dairies National Monument with the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History

Scotts Valley threw its weight behind a proposal for a 100% affordable housing project for 4444 Scotts Valley Drive, at the regularly scheduled City Council meeting Sept. 4.

Eighty apartments are proposed at a vacant lot at Soquel Avenue and Cayuga Street in Santa Cruz. (Workbench)
Meeting: 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 16

The California Coastal Commission is set to decide whether a planned hotel at Front and Laurel streets in Santa Cruz will include some lower-cost rooms. (BCV Architecture + Interiors)
Meeting: 9 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 12

A housing project at 2838 Park Ave. in Soquel is supposed to finish in early 2025. (Tyler Maldonado — Santa Cruz Local file)
SOQUEL >> Construction appeared to stall for several weeks this summer at a 36-unit permanent supportive housing …

After nearly 30 years, Scotts Valley has a parks master plan. Now the city needs to figure out how to fund the improvements.

A five-building housing complex is proposed at Thurber Lane and Soquel Drive. (Jesse Kathan — Santa Cruz Local file)
Many Live Oak residents have objected to a proposed affordable housing development on Soquel Drive and Thurber Lane with concerns that …

Protect San Benito County!

Attorneys for the UC Regents, the City of Santa Cruz and the County of Santa Cruz enter a Santa Cruz County Superior Court hearing about UCSC’s 2021 Long Range Development Plan on June 13. (Nik Altenberg — Santa Cruz Local) …

Felton roads are nearly deserted under a sepia sky Aug. 20, 2020 after evacuation orders for the CZU Lightning Complex Fire. (William Duncan — Santa Cruz Local file)
Meeting: 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27

Small, less-expensive readymade homes could buy time as the state continues to struggle with homelessness and high building costs.  By Mark Kreidler, Capital & Main...

A recently-acquired slice of coastal land near Watsonville will help protect South County and its farmland from flooding, coastal surges and other impacts of global warming.