City of Santa Cruz
Planning Commission
Thursday, October 1, 2026, 7:00 PM
How to take part
Show up: Thursday, October 1, 2026 at 7:00 PM. California's open-meetings law (the Brown Act) gives you the right to speak on agenda items. Remote-participation links, when offered, are on the agenda.
Write in: cityplan@santacruzca.gov (from the address this meeting's agenda gives for public comment)
What's being decided
- Major· Planning & development, Housing, Environment & climateCity zoning rewrite: planned development on smaller lots, housing rules, climate plan updates
The Planning Commission is asked to recommend that the City Council adopt a package of zoning, subdivision and General Plan changes. The package would waive the city's lot-line (boundary) adjustment fee for multifamily or mixed-use projects that combine two or more lots and create at least two new homes; remove the rule that Planned Development Permits — which let a project vary from normal zoning standards in exchange for public benefits — only apply to sites of 20,000 square feet or more; rewrite zoning rules so transitional housing, supportive housing and farmworker (agricultural employee) housing are treated the same as comparable homes in the same zone, as state law requires; clean up wording in the city's inclusionary (below-market housing) rules; and update General Plan language to match the 2022 Climate Action Plan and the 2025 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan – Climate Adaptation Plan. A yes vote sends all of this to the City Council with a recommendation to approve, along with findings and a determination that no further environmental review is needed.