Vacating part of Escalona Drive right-of-way to create a parcel with public easements

In plain English

The City owns an unimproved strip of street right-of-way at the end of Escalona Drive on Depot Hill, between private properties including the Monarch Cove property. It is not used for cars, but an informal footpath crosses it to an ocean overlook. A yes vote would formally vacate (give up) that street right-of-way, turn the land into a single legal parcel, and keep two permanent easements on it — one guaranteeing public pedestrian access along the path to the overlook, and one keeping most of the parcel as open space with very limited development. The vote would also approve a Coastal Development Permit for creating the parcel and let the City Manager sign and record the necessary deeds and maps.

The land is a public ocean-view access point on Depot Hill, and staff says that once the parcel exists it expects to come back to Council to declare it surplus and start selling it, so this step sets the terms under which public access and open space would survive a transfer to private ownership; California Coastal Commission staff sent the City a letter on September 17, 2026 opposing the proposal.

Key facts

The site is an unimproved portion of the Escalona Drive right-of-way at the end of the street on Depot Hill, next to the Monarch Cove property and an adjacent private residence; an informal path leads to an ocean overlook.
Two permanent easements would be reserved and recorded with the parcel: a public access easement (walking, nature observation, benches, railings, signage; no gates, fences or buildings blocking access) and an open space easement (no buildings, no commercial use, no grading or paving; new fencing limited to 36 inches in height and subdivision prohibited).
Staff anticipates returning to Council later with a separate action to declare the parcel surplus and begin disposition under the Surplus Land Act.
The item was first placed on the May 14, 2026 Council agenda and pulled before it was considered; the report was revised to add the required Coastal Development Permit and to respond to Coastal Commission staff concerns. A comment letter opposing the action arrived from Coastal Commission staff on September 17, 2026.
No immediate fiscal impact; the report says future disposition of the parcel may bring revenue to the City. The project is treated as exempt from environmental review under CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3), with Sections 15301 and 15315 also cited.

Reasons to support

Staff says the right-of-way is not needed for present or future street purposes and is currently unimproved and undevelopable; formalizing it as a parcel with recorded easements turns an informal, unprotected footpath into a legally protected public access route to the ocean overlook.
The public access easement would be held and enforceable by the City rather than a private party, and both easements would run with the land, so staff argues the protections survive any future sale.
Staff states no new buildable lot is created — the action converts existing right-of-way into one parcel — and that land under the public access easement cannot be counted toward allowed building floor area.
The report finds the project consistent with Capitola's Local Coastal Program, including maintaining public views, low-cost recreational access to the bluff overlook, and the natural character of the site.

Reasons to oppose or change it

California Coastal Commission staff formally opposed the action in a September 17, 2026 letter, raising concerns about converting public land into private ownership and about that conversion enabling additional development on the resulting parcel.
The staff report itself acknowledges a development effect: the adjacent developer's total lot area would increase, which increases the floor area otherwise allowed under the Municipal Code, with the open space portion able to support additional building square footage elsewhere.
Because staff expects to follow up by declaring the parcel surplus and selling it, approving this step moves publicly owned coastal bluff land toward private hands, leaving the public's continued use of the overlook dependent on the City enforcing recorded easements against a future private owner.

Official wording

Escalona Drive Right-of-Way Vacation, Parcel Creation, and Reservation of Easements; and Coastal Development Permit Recommended Action: Adopt a resolution: 1) vacating a portion of the Escalona Drive right-of-way, approving creation of a parcel, and reserving a public open space easement and a public access easement over the parcel; and 2) authorizing the City Manager to execute and record all documents necessary to effectuate these actions, subject to minor modifications approved by the City Manager, City Engineer, and City Attorney and approve a Coastal Development Permit to allow the parcel creation.

Official agenda

Summary written by claude-opus-5 from the agenda and the Staff report (agenda packet, pages 16-38). It can contain mistakes. The official documents govern.