The supervisors voted 5-0 to approve 43 rezones and pull four properties from consideration. 

“What we’re trying to do here is maintain some semblance and some level of local control, understanding that a lot of that’s been stripped away from us,” said Supervisor Justin Cummings. He added that he “reluctantly” supported the motion. 

Supervisors Manu Koenig and Kim De Serpa proposed removing the four lots, each responding to the concerns raised by their district constituents during public comment. Koenig represents Live Oak, Soquel, Soquel Hills, part of Capitola and other areas. De Serpa represents Aptos, Freedom, Corralitos La Selva Beach, Rio Del Mar and other areas.

The four properties supervisors removed from the group of rezones were:

• 2507 Paul Minnie Ave. in Live Oak.
• 3165 Prather Lane in Live Oak.
• 235 Primrose Lane and an adjacent parcel near Corralitos. 

Rezoning the properties does not mean housing proposals are imminent, but they are one step in implementing the county’s Housing Element. 

Housing process

The Housing Element of the county’s General Plan is a state-mandated plan that local governments must draft every eight years to plan for more housing based on state-set quotas. The county must permit 4,634 more homes in unincorporated areas by 2032. Leaders of the cities of Capitola, Watsonville, Santa Cruz and Scotts Valley have separate plans and permit targets for new homes.

County staff warned the board that the state could penalize the county for not rezoning the properties identified as potential housing sites in the Housing Element. 

“There’s a risk that has been identified during this hearing on decertification of our Housing Element resulting from these actions,” said Santa Cruz County Counsel Jason Heath.

If the Housing Element were to be decertified by state authorities, the county would lose much of its control over proposed housing developments because of a state law called the Builder’s Remedy. The state could also fine the county or declare it ineligible for some state grants.

Last year, the county failed to get state certification of its Housing Element on time, and local developers took advantage of the lapse to propose projects that were denser and taller than would otherwise be allowed — and the county’s hands are tied to deny or revise the proposals.

Koenig acknowledged the risk before the vote, and said his “least happy constituents today are the ones next to the Builder’s Remedy project” at 841 Capitola Road in Live Oak.

Changes to the Builder’s Remedy that went into effect this year make the maximum height and density of such projects even greater, county staff warned.

Delays could lead to more projects

The scrapped rezones would have allowed for an additional 76 units across the four parcels, including 62 potential units at the Primrose Lane lots. Because of the proposed zoning density of those lots and other factors, they were considered potential “very low income” units, county planning staff said.

“Losing one site may not seem like a very big deal, but what it does to that income category, particularly that very low [income category] where we’re already struggling, can be a huge difference,” said Mark Connolly, Santa Cruz County principal planner.

Supervisor Koenig directed county planning staff to find alternate properties to make up for the loss in potential homes and potentially avoid a decertification. But those four parcels will have to be rezoned regardless, said Natalie Kirkish, assistant county counsel.

“If we do not complete the rezoning within three years, then any parcel that was identified in the Housing Element for rezoning, the county no longer has the ability to deny that project at the density proposed in the Housing Element itself,” Kirkish said. 

In other words, developers could propose housing projects on the Primrose Lane, Paul Minnie Avenue and Prather Lane properties that are taller and denser than the scuttled rezones would have allowed.

235 Primrose Lane and an adjacent parcel, identified as B-41 and B-42 on this map, were removed from a proposed package of rezones. (County of Santa Cruz)

A rezone of 3165 Prather Lane, identified as B-1 on this map, was scrapped by supervisors at an April 29 meeting. (County of Santa Cruz)

A rezone of 2507 Paul Minnie Ave., identified as B-5 on this map, was canceled by supervisors at an April 29 meeting. (County of Santa Cruz)

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