Santa Cruz County Housing Digest

California energy regulators are considering requiring homeowners to replace broken air-conditioning systems with heat pumps or HVAC systems that are more energy efficient. The change would go into effect in 2026.

The proposed “Peace Village” project—a 40-unit apartment building on the campus of Peace United Church of Christ at 900 High St. in Santa Cruz—will move forward after the Santa Cruz Planning Commission denied an appeal of the project.

A 2021 state law has radically changed the housing equation in San Diego. Advocates, developers, and policymakers are split on whether it should be exported to other jurisdictions.

I’m part of a band of humans who call themselves nomads, except I’m a part-time digital nomad. The “part-time” is because I still have a house — a sticks-and-bricks, as the nomads call it.

Some two years after plans to convert a San Lorenzo Valley motel into affordable veteran housing were announced, the property's new owners say they expect the Highway 9 site’s capacity to nearly double in size by the end of 2024.

In the wake of approximately 24 families facing evictions from a Pajaro apartment complex as the property's owners prepare to work through violations cited by Monterey County, Watsonville-based nonprofit Community Bridges has intervened to assist those families.

“For more than 150 years, California’s local land use decisions were the purview of city councils and boards of supervisors, yielding mixed results,” writes Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley.

After more than a year of work, six drafts and almost 500 pages of planning details, the Capitola City Council unanimously approved the 6th Cycle Housing Element update at its meeting. Capitola Community Development Director Katie Herlihy said earlier this year the update would be one of the most difficult assignments of her career.

Capitola leaders are expected to cap off a year-long effort to update the city’s housing element before the state-mandated deadline in December.

Redfin data shows that tens of thousands of more people look to leave California than buy homes in the Golden State. There’s an exception, however: the Sacramento region, which remains one of the hottest homebuying markets in the country.

Tiny homes are increasingly California cities’ shelter option of choice — but how far they go in solving homelessness is a contentious question.

The group behind the Measure O campaign, known as Our Downtown, Our Future, organized a conference that examined numerous facets of the affordable housing crisis.

Drumroll, please … Butte is California’s bargain county. The least affordable counties were Santa Cruz, Monterey, Orange, San Diego and Alameda.

The CPUC is considering a rule that would gut the payments that solar panels on apartment buildings receive, and many housing groups are blazing mad about it.

The Watsonville City Council and Planning Commission both deal with land-use matters, and they will be joining forces to discuss one of the biggest land-use matters: how to allocate and construct 2,053 housing units over the next eight years.

A patchwork of bills are giving housing developers and local governments more options to reduce red tape for housing projects.

A June budget deal required community colleges to raise their own money to build affordable student housing. Some campuses said that plan prevented them from building the dorms, even with help from the state to pay the debt.

A coalition of organizations such as Housing Santa Cruz County and Our Downtown Our Future have joined forces to carry on the effort to create a city-driven, community-led tax revenue measure for affordable housing projects started by Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keely and Councilmembers Scott Newsome and Sandy Brown.

Assemblymember Buffy Wicks proposed legislation to help get around a court's rejection of a UC Berkeley housing plan. But even if the law is approved, its fate is in the hands of the state Supreme Court.

The housing ordinance was originally adopted in 2004 to require local developers to include affordable housing—specifically for very low, low or moderate income buyers or renters.

Hans Johnson, an expert in domestic migration, housing, and population projections, explains the state’s population shift and how it’s impacted the housing market.

Gov. Gavin Newsom promised $95 million would help undocumented workers rebuild after winter storms and floods. Months later, $18 million is being doled out and there are translation issues with the state’s website.

Many local governments see voter majorities approve bond measures without reaching the two-thirds required. A new effort to reform that system would drastically improve the ability of local governments to fund housing and infrastructure projects.

The city of Capitola’s effort to update its housing element before the end of the year has brought into focus one of its most critical assets both in terms of economic output and housing goals—the Capitola Mall.

The lack of enough places for everyone to live has sent coastal rent prices inland, removing large swaths of previously cheaper rental units.

An appeal was denied by the California Coastal Commission concerning a proposed, mixed-use building, with commercial on the ground level and 89 units above, at the intersection of West Cliff Drive and Bay Street in Santa Cruz.

For the first time, San Diego has surpassed San Francisco for average rental rates, making the All-American City the nation’s third-most expensive rental market, according to a Zillow report. But San Jose had the nation’s highest monthly rent with $3,411.

Ariel Marshall, a senior official from the U.S. Department of Energy visited Santa Cruz city leaders to learn about progress made on all-electric housing and other developments. Marshall’s message was clear: there’s federal money for the city’s climate-friendly projects.

Santa Cruz County tops the list of most expensive rental markets in the country, according to the nonprofit National Low Income Housing Coalition. Renters would have to earn $63.33 an hour to afford a two-bedroom.

The housing development, named “Casa Azul” after its blue paint scheme, includes two upstairs one-bedroom apartments to go with five studio units.

Most of what Californians experience with homelessness occurs along public spaces and city streets. But what happens when a city council member loses her home? Ojai’s Suza Francina is finding out.

Bill Shopoff and his company controls four California retail properties that could one day could be new housing.