April 2023 Newsletter
Read on for housing news from March, Housing events in April and important milestones in Housing Elements. 🌺 🏘 🌼 🌳
Our next Santa Cruz YIMBY meet up is on April 5th, 2023 and features special guest Supervisor Manu Koenig.
Come join us at Pono Hawaiian Kitchen and Tap at 3744 Capitola Rd.
Housing News
Student Housing West moves forward - UC Regents have issued SHW finance and project approvals to move the project forward. Campus will seek bids later this year with plans to begin construction as early as 2024. Upon completion, this project will house over 3,000 students.
City of Santa Cruz parking minimums - AB2097, a landmark bill to eliminate parking minimums near high quality transit, was signed into law in 2022 and applies to much of the city. We’re thrilled to see staff updating their standards to reflect this new legislation and fully decoupling automobile and bike parking requirements. Additionally, this ordinance will require parking for cargo bikes, e-bikes, and bike repair stations in large developments. This passed the Planning Commission unanimously on 3/16 and will be presented to council on 4/11.
Santa Cruz approves permits for downtown library, housing, parking project. The Santa Cruz City Council finally moved this project forward, approving thee permits for the design, demolition of existing trees and parking lot and other needed permits. Yay!
Please join us on April 1st as we march with other housing advocates to end homelessness. The march begins in downtown Santa Cruz at 10am with a festival at the County building until 2pm. Your donations are welcome.
Focus on Housing Elements
City of Santa Cruz DRAFT Housing Element is now available! Public Comments are open until April 23, 2023. Check out the draft here.
Capitola has published its DRAFT Site Map. See the map here.
Watch the discussion at the joint City Council/Planning Commission meeting here (YouTube). We expect to hear about a Community Workshop sometime in April. Stay tuned.
On April 5th, Scotts Valley expects to present a DRAFT Site Map at a joint City Council/Planning Commission meeting. Check back for the agenda here. The Mayor, Jack Dilles, outlined the schedule and what to expect in his Santa Cruz Sentinel Sunday column. At this point, it looks like the first draft to HCD will be in September 2023.
We expect to hear about a Watsonville Community Workshop sometime in April. Stay tuned.
For the County of Santa Cruz, a Community and Stakeholder Panel will be meeting throughout April. You can submit your name to participate on one of these panels until the end of March: online sign-up form in English: surveymonkey.com/r/CGBD6D9; online sign-up form in Spanish: surveymonkey.com/r/36SYVYB