The Santa Cruz City Council is pursuing stronger enforcement of rules that prioritize locals for city-supported affordable housing projects like Pacific Station North. (Nik Altenberg — Santa Cruz Local file)

SANTA CRUZ >> The City of Santa Cruz could strengthen its requirements for below-market rate housing to go to local residents and workers, under potential new rules being considered by the Santa Cruz City Council. 

Councilmembers Gabriela Trigueiro and Susie O’Hara wrote in a recent report that Santa Cruz can strengthen its local preferences while still abiding by state nondiscrimination law. Most of the people in city-supported affordable housing developments lived or worked in the city, according to city staff, but the new requirements would add ways to track and enforce the policy.

Tuesday, the council directed staff to draw up the new rules. They aim to address some residents’ concerns that city-funded affordable housing could go to people without preexisting connections to Santa Cruz.

The move comes as city voters prepare to consider Measure C, a property transfer tax and parcel tax which could raise an estimated $50 million for the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund over the next 20 years.

The city’s existing policy prioritizes below-market-rate units first for people who live or work in the city, and then for people who live or work elsewhere in Santa Cruz County. The new rules would further prioritize neighbors at risk of displacement from gentrification.

The last four affordable housing developments to receive money or land from the city, including Pacific Station South, had a total of 201 apartments offered for below-market rent.

About 70% went to applicants who lived or worked in Santa Cruz, according to data provided by property managers after apartments were initially leased. About 20% went to people who lived or worked elsewhere in the county. Those numbers exclude units for managers not offered below-market rate, and two units vacant at the time managers submitted the data.

At its Tuesday meeting, the council also approved:

• New pickleball courts on Delaware Avenue, next to Antonelli pond. The city will pay to restripe the existing tennis courts, owned by UC Santa Cruz. The courts will then be open to the public. Courts at Sgt. Derby Park, currently striped for both sports, will be used exclusively for tennis. 
• New landscaping and public art on Ocean Street at Plymouth Street. Art from a previously approved artist would include glass statues of wildlife in planted areas on either side of the street. The landscaping could include rock walls, native plants and a fence.

Existing policy in the City of Santa Cruz prioritize below-market-rate units first for people who live or work in the city, and then for those elsewhere in Santa Cruz County. The new rules the city council are proposing would further prioritize neighbors at risk of displacement from gentrification. (Nik Altenberg — Santa Cruz Local file)

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