SANTA CRUZ — The city of Santa Cruz is seeking the public’s feedback on the highly contested Downtown Plan Expansion project, or downtown expansion plan, which inspired the failed ballot initiative known as Measure M.
On Tuesday, the city of Santa Cruz announced the release of the public review draft of its Downtown Plan Expansion project, years in the making, which would change the zoning in the neighborhood south of Laurel Street to pave the way for a new, approximately 4-acre arena and series of new buildings, among other objectives.
The public review draft document is actually two documents: a new appendix to the existing Downtown Plan, which rebrands the 29-acre neighborhood, currently included in the Beach South of Laurel Plan, as the “South of Laurel Area District” or “SOLA District,” as it is referred to in the recently-authored appendix.
Also under public review are proposed amendments to the existing Downtown Plan, specifically in the Downtown Plan’s fourth chapter, which deals with development standards and design guidelines. Community members are urged to provide feedback to the city Planning Department about the proposed plan change by July 10.
One of the primary goals of the plan change is to allow for the construction of an approximately 4-acre arena in the area roughly where businesses such as Cruz Cafe, Wheel Works, Ace Hardware, Firefly Coffee House and an adult assisted living facility currently call home.
In 2016, the city commissioned a report from consulting firm Victus Advisors to pin down an area in the city that could accommodate a new arena. Several sites were considered such as the current site of the Santa Cruz Warriors arena and Depot Park, among others. The construction of an arena on the soccer fields of Depot Park ignited public backlash when it was proposed in 2016 and the concept was abandoned.
The potential construction of numerous highrise buildings and the arena in the South of Laurel Area originally proposed in June 2022, also came with pushback from the public, which led to the Santa Cruz City Council’s attempt to scale down the proposed buildings to around 12 stories in an effort championed by Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley and City Councilmember Scott Newsome. The proposal also inspired the formation of the Housing for People citizen group that authored Measure M.
According to the proposed modifications to the Downtown Plan up for review, no new development in the South of Laurel Area “shall exceed the base height of 85 feet, 70 feet or 50 feet except as provided for by the Downtown Density Bonus, or other state or local density bonus.” With state density bonus laws, a development with a base height of 85 feet could be given concessions to build twice that height, as was shown with the recently proposed “Clocktower Center” project.
Public comments can be made on the proposed Downtown Plan Expansion documents by emailing city of Santa Cruz Senior Planner Sarah Neuse at sneuse@santacruzca.gov. The public joint meeting of the Santa Cruz City Council and the city’s Planning Commission about the plan will be held at 5:30 p.m. June 18 at Santa Cruz City Hall, 809 Center St., Santa Cruz.
According to the city’s website, the draft environmental impact report associated with the Downtown Plan Expansion, ordered by the former Santa Cruz Council in June 2022, is still being prepared and will be released for public review later this year.
If you go
What: Joint Santa Cruz City Council-Planning Commission meeting
When: 5:30 p.m., June 18
Where: Santa Cruz City Council Chambers, 809 Center St.
Why: Downtown Plan Expansion Project