City Council

This is the final step in raising parking meter rates in Capitola. On September 24, 2026, the City Council approved a Coastal Development Permit for parking meter rate increases at the Upper and Lower City Hall Parking Lots, the Village Area, and the Cliff Drive Area, and voted to pass the related ordinance to print on first reading. A yes vote on October 8 would complete the second reading and formally adopt the ordinance amending Municipal Code Section 10.38.010, and would find that adopting it is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (the state law requiring environmental review of some government actions). It is on the consent list, meaning it is set to be approved along with other routine items unless a council member or resident pulls it for discussion.

Capitola would move $35,000 out of its General Fund Contingency Reserve to pay a reimbursement demand from the law firm Shenkman & Hughes PC. The firm sent the City a letter on March 13, 2026 claiming Capitola's at-large city council elections violated the California Voting Rights Act of 2001; the City then went through the state process and, on August 27, 2026, adopted district-based elections with a district map and election sequence. State law (California Elections Code Section 10010(f)) allows the party that sent such a notice to be reimbursed for certain costs, and the firm submitted documentation totaling $39,526.45 while offering to accept $35,000. A yes vote authorizes the budget change so the payment can be made.

Capitola has been rewriting parts of its Local Coastal Program — the city's coastal land use policies (Land Use Plan) and coastal zoning rules (Implementation Plan) — as part of the Cliff Drive Resiliency Project, which addresses bluff erosion, sea-level rise and public access along Cliff Drive. The City Council adopted those amendments in January 2026, but on July 10, 2026 the California Coastal Commission approved them only with two wording changes. Modification 1 deletes the phrase "notwithstanding other LCP provisions" from Policy VII-12, so Cliff Drive resiliency projects no longer expressly override other coastal policies. Modification 2 rewrites the zoning table footnote so coastal armoring supporting public paths and accessways along Cliff Drive is allowable "if it meets applicable LCP provisions, including Capitola LCP policies II-4, VII-9, and VII-12." A yes vote accepts both changes, and the amendments take effect once the Coastal Commission's Executive Director confirms it.

The City Council is asked to adopt a long-range plan for Capitola's main commercial streets: 41st Avenue, parts of Clares Street around the Capitola Mall, and Capitola Road from the western city boundary to about 43rd Avenue. The plan, prepared by consultant SWA Group, sketches out conceptual street designs — green-painted bike lanes, removing some center turn lanes and midblock turns where crashes have occurred, new midblock pedestrian crossings on Clares Street, street trees, benches, public art, gateway signs and landscaping themes. A yes vote adopts the plan as guidance only: the resolution states it does not authorize construction, commit money, or approve any development application. Actual projects would still need engineering, environmental review, funding and future Council approval.