Santa Cruz County Land Use & Development Articles

Workers prepare the site of future student housing on Hagar Drive at UC Santa Cruz for construction.  (Jesse Kathan — Santa Cruz Local)
SANTA CRUZ >> A carpenters union has sued the University of California for what union leaders called …

Nate Bradley and his dog, Raider, stand outside a store in Capitola. An off-leash dog area could be added to Noble Gulch Park. (Tyler Maldonado — Santa Cruz Local)
CAPITOLA >> The Capitola City Council on Thursday advanced a plan …

Residents of a Watsonville neighborhood are pushing back against a proposed housing project meant to help homeless people staying along the Pajaro River levee. They say that local officials have ignored their concerns over crime and safety and are moving …

Watsonville city officials on Monday began clearing a sprawling unsanctioned homeless encampment along the Pajaro River that runs from Sakata Lane to Loughead Avenue.

Mark Livingston, 68, remembers how, a couple years back, a cat showed up at his rustic Felton house in the thick of the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Last Sunday, July 21, Roaring Camp Railroads in Felton played host to nearly 200 people who attended the Santa Cruz Mountains Firewise Festival.

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.

Volunteers of the global nonprofit Dr. Shri. Nanasaheb Dharmadhikari Pratishthan completed a conservation drive at Castle Rock State Park, located along Skyline Boulevard, on June 22.

Property will be closed to public access through May 1, 2025 to selectively harvest trees and maintain forest health.

An organization that helps men break free from drug and alcohol addiction officially broke ground on June 21 on a new Behavioral Health Center on Miles Lane in Watsonville.

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 Bright Future in Sight: Camping Unlimited at Camp Krem Approved for FEMA Assistance

A bond measure on the Nov. 5 ballot would help improve Watsonville High School and other schools in Pajaro Valley Unified School District. (Stephen Baxter — Santa Cruz Local file)
APTOS >> Voters in Pajaro Valley Unified School District will …

Just across the Pajaro River from Watsonville in Monterey County, hundreds of seasonal farmworkers are now living in a recently completed housing complex created for them at the end of Susan Street.

The Ben Lomond Village Alliance (BLVA) California Monarch And Pollinator Habitat Kit project has been accepted into the Pollinator Habitat Monarch Conservation program through the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation in Sacramento. Out of 200 applicants, the BLVA project was …

Spruce Street could close to vehicles from Pacific Avenue to the San Lorenzo River levee as part of a proposed Santa Cruz Downtown expansion plan. (Stephen Baxter — Santa Cruz Local)
Key takeaways

Three years after the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors voted to purchase the former West Marine building on Westridge Drive, a convergence of city and county officials gathered at the site Tuesday to celebrate its new incarnation.

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.

Pacific Station South, in background, is a 69-unit affordable housing complex on Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz that is expected to finish construction this summer. Pacific Station North began construction this year and its 128 affordable units are anticipated to …

Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History presents ‘Cotoni-Coast Dairies: Monumental Steps,’ celebrating a unique piece of land and the folks who protected it.