Much like we see here in Arcata, the city of Santa Cruz is involved in their version of an unaffordable housing crisis. We can look at what Santa Cruz has experienced over the past 20 or 30 years in term of the reduction of housing affordability, and imagine that we might be seeing similar issues here. There are large differences between the two cities — one of which is that Santa Cruz is within commuting distance of the jobs of Silicon Valley. Simply put, there is more wealth in Santa Cruz.

Among what is similar between our city and theirs is the desire from the people for a cap on building height and an increase in affordable housing. 

The zoning in downtown Santa Cruz allows building heights of 5 to 7 stories, and up to 8 stories using the State density bonus law. Apartment and mixed use buildings of 12 stories and even 17 stories have been proposed. 

A well-organized group called Housing for People – Santa Cruz is pushing to get these issues on the ballot for March, 2024, election. Their initiative has two goals:

• Increase the affordable housing ratio to 25% in all new development with over 30 units in the City of Santa Cruz, as the City Planning Commission has recommended for years.
  • • • Purpose: To maintain diversity by increasing available low-income housing, so family members, low and moderate wage earners, youth and elders can continue to live here.
• Direct democracy: Tall buildings that exceed the current height limits to be voted on by the people.
  • • • Thoughtful, environmentally-sensitive city design is valued.

One of their leaders is Frank Barron, a retired urban planner formerly with Santa Cruz city and county. He says many people he’s spoken to while gathering signatures are surprised to hear about the building heights and sizes of the proposed development.

“They’re just not aware of what’s going on, and a lot of people are shocked that that is what is being proposed,” Barron said. “I think city leaders are seeing that and are realizing there is this groundswell and opposition to the go-go-go mentality.”

Editor’s notes:
The Santa Cruz Warriors area professional basketball team in the NBA “G” league, associated with the Golden State Warriors. The team moved to Santa Cruz in 2012; prior to that they were the Dakota Wizards in Bismarck, North Dakota, in the “D” league. The Warriors play in an arena built in 2012 with 2,500 seats that is also home to UC Santa Cruz  men’s and women’s basketball games. The current arena was constructed as a temporary home until a more substantial arena could be built. A permanent, multi-use arena is now being planned, as part of a large downtown expansion plan that also originally included one 17-story building and three 14-story buildings, with a minimum of 1,600 housing units. This has been scaled back to a maximum of 1,600 units, and a possible height limit of 12 stories.

For Santa Cruz County, the HUD median family income for fiscal year 2022 was is $119,300. This shows up as $79,700 for family income in Humboldt County — 67% of that of Santa Cruz County. I don’t use income figures for residents of Arcata as they tend to be skewed to the low side. Many students register on the census inputs that they have low or zero income. Arcata household and personal income numbers are not trustworthy as a result.

Petition to cap Santa Cruz building height has enough signatures to qualify for March ballot, organizers say

By Christopher Neely
Source: Lookout Santa Cruz

Summary

Organizers of a petition to give voters the power to approve tall buildings in the city of Santa Cruz say they have gathered enough signatures to place a measure on the March primary ballot. The initiative from the group known as Housing for People would require voter approval for proposed new developments that exceed current zoning limits and would enforce affordable housing requirements in large multi-family projects. The initiative comes in response to a downtown expansion plan that sparked controversy with its proposal for 12-story buildings.

Should tall developments first be approved by voters? Should a quarter of new units in large multifamily developments be income-restricted? An upstart political group has been petitioning Santa Cruz residents with these questions since June and, according to organizers, they have received enough signatures to put the questions on the March primary ballot.

Frank Barron and Keresha Durham, leaders of the group Housing for People, told Lookout they’ve collected more than the required 3,690 names to qualify for the ballot, and are now working to pad the numbers with 600 to 800 more signatures before handing the petition in to the city clerk by the Monday, Oct. 9, deadline. If the city clerk certifies that enough registered city of Santa Cruz voters have signed the petition, the questions will go on the March 5 primary ballot.

“We’re going to have more than enough signatures,” said Durham, who said she has spent every day after work, from 5 p.m. to dark, knocking on doors and garnering support for the ballot initiative. Durham said the group has had “200 volunteers” working to collect signatures.

Although the initiative carries citywide implications, Housing for People organizers said the downtown expansion plan was the impetus. That plan, which envisions a redevelopment of the south of Laurel Street neighborhood to bring downtown closer to the beach, once mulled 15-to-17-story residential buildings with up to 1,800 units surrounding a new permanent arena for the Santa Cruz Warriors basketball team. In January, Mayor Fred Keeley led an effort to cap the height at 12 stories and the units at 1,600, but for many it still appears too much.

Barron, a retired urban planner for the city and county, said many people he’s spoken to while gathering signatures seem surprised to hear about the development proposal.

“They’re just not aware of what’s going on, and a lot of people are shocked that that is what is being proposed,” Barron said. “I think city leaders are seeing that and are realizing there is this groundswell and opposition to the go-go-go mentality.”

Citizen initiatives are typically given 180 days, or about six months, to collect signatures, but Housing for People got a late start, petitioning its first voters in June. If the initiative qualifies for the ballot, Housing for People will have gathered enough support in about only four months. Durham said the progress on the six-story residential mixed-use progress on the corner of Laurel Street and Pacific Avenue helped their campaign.

“A lot of times we hear from people who are mortified by the height and the prison-block aesthetic of that building,” said Durham, who said it was easy to point to the development and ask voters whether they’d want a say before buildings go twice as tall. “We’ve had a lot of support. Last week I got a check for $2,000 from a supporter in town.”

“I understand the concerns people have about height and affordability, and there are tradeoffs that can result in a lot less housing being built,” Newsome said. “If the expansion plan does not go through, we would lose the opportunity for housing. Ultimately, this is going to be decided by the voters, and I see my role as talking to voters and educating them on the choices they can make. I will just leave it at that.”

Keeley did not immediately return calls for comment. Chris Murphy, president of the Santa Cruz Warriors, said it is “too early to say’’ whether these proposed restrictions on the development could land an existential blow to the current arena and downtown expansion plans. About the petition, he said “everyone is entitled to their opinion.”

“The Warriors are committed to making a long-term home in Santa Cruz, we want that to happen,” Murphy told Lookout on Friday. “It’s definitely still the goal and still a reality. We’re working with the city and private sector to figure out how we can make a permanent home for the Warriors in downtown.”

Last month, the city council unanimously approved a guaranteed two-year lease extension with the Warriors for use of the existing Kaiser Permanente Arena. In its analysis of the lease extension, city staff emphasized that the franchise has “received considerable interest in relocating the Santa Cruz Warriors to a more permanent home elsewhere in the Bay Area.”