County Board of Supervisors · Tuesday, October 6, 2026, 9:00 AM · Item 9 · REGULAR AGENDA
"Streamline Santa Cruz County" progress report and new bid for conflict defense lawyers
In plain English
County staff are giving the Board a six-month progress report on "Streamline Santa Cruz County," the plan to simplify building and development permits that the Board approved on June 24, 2025. Of the 12 projects in the plan, seven are now in a "check and adjust" phase or folded into regular staff duties, two are moving ahead, two are on hold for lack of money and staff, and one is close to the check-and-adjust stage. A yes vote would accept and file the report and direct staff to come back with another update no later than April 2027.
Anyone pulling a building permit in the unincorporated county — homeowners, contractors, designers, and people rebuilding after the CZU fire — is affected by the changes described, including a new pre-application tool, online inspection scheduling, and a multi-year rewrite of the county's development codes.
Key facts
- Phase 1 of the comprehensive code update (zoning, environmental protection, land use procedures and sewage disposal rules) has $200,000 in the 2026-27 budget; total anticipated project need is $600,000, so Phase 2 requires future funding.
- Of 805 parcels hit by the CZU fire: 272 changed ownership, 177 replacement homes are finished, 136 more are permitted or under construction, and 173 owners (184 parcels) still have not responded. The Rebuild Directive waiving certain geologic hazard review was extended four years to 2030.
- Online inspection scheduling with tablet-based field inspections began pilot testing with select contractors on September 8th; it is expected to save eight inspectors roughly two hours per day of paperwork.
- Project 9 (Customer Service Excellence Program, 10% finished) is on hold, and the goal of a fully integrated permit technology platform is on hold, both due to staffing and budget constraints.
- Environmental Health is moving to a new system, HS GovTech, merging five separate tools including Envision, EH Luis, an Access database, Excel trackers and paper records; go-live awaits renegotiation of the vendor contract.
Reasons to support
- Seven of 12 projects have reached the check-and-adjust phase or become standard work, including standard operating procedures from intake to final, a documented pre-application process with an online tool, and a rebuilt county website with a live "Streamline Santa Cruz County" page.
- Two stakeholder groups — design professionals and contractors — now meet regularly with staff, and their feedback has already changed the online screening tool and the new Major Projects webpage; the next meetings are set for October 14, 2026.
- Online inspection scheduling gives customers visibility into when inspections occur and the ability to cancel or message the inspector, while eliminating paper for inspectors.
Reasons to oppose or change it
- Staff themselves caution that "the complexity of the County Code will continue to limit the extent of measurable gains," and the report offers qualitative feedback rather than finished numbers on permit review times.
- Two of the most customer-facing efforts — the customer service excellence program and a single integrated permit platform — have been shelved over staffing and money, so the promised one-stop permit portal is not coming soon.
- Finishing the code rewrite depends on a future budget allocation of the remaining funds toward the $600,000 total, and the financial impact of the whole effort, including consultant and staff costs, is deferred to the April 2027 report.
Official wording
Consider progress report on “Streamline Santa Cruz County” project, and take related actions (County Executive Office) 10.1. Authorize the General Services Department to release the revised Request for Proposal for First Tier Conflict Indigent Defense Services, and take related actions (County Executive Office) Scheduled Item -- 10:45 AM Scheduled and Regular Departmental items – 10:45 AM or thereafter
Summary written by claude-opus-5 from the agenda and the Staff Report. It can contain mistakes. The official documents govern.