Ordinance & Policy Updates

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LCP Update

Provide Your Feedback on the Local Coastal Program

The Advance Planning Division has released the Public Review Draft of a new LCP Beaches and Bluffs Policy Chapter and will accept feedback from the public for four weeks from June 16, 2025  through July 14, 2025. The document will be brought to City Council later this year, likely in the fall of 2025.

What is the Local Coastal Program (LCP)?

In 1972, California voters passed Proposition 20, the Coastal Conservation Initiative, which established the Coastal Commission and tasked it with making decisions about development within the Coastal Zone. The California Coastal Act was adopted in 1976 to ensure that the public has access to the coast and coastal resources and to protect sensitive marine and coastal habitats. Under the Coastal Act, coastal cities and counties are required to adopt Local Coastal Programs to guide development in the coastal zone. Recently, LCPs have also started to address the impacts of climate change and sea level rise.

The current LCP was originally approved by City Council in 1992 as part of the City's General Plan. With the adoption of a new General Plan in 2013 and environmental issues including climate change and sea level rise to be addressed, the update of the LCP is an exciting opportunity to bring the City's policy documents into alignment and to address issues that are important both locally and globally.

To view the current Local Coastal Program and Coastal Land Use Policies & Maps, please visit the Area Plans and City Zoning Code web page.

Community Meeting/Webinar

A community meeting was held Tuesday, November 9th, 2021. If you were unable to attend, below you will find the slide show that was presented: 

Documents & Resources

Spring 2025 Municipal Code Amendments

The Planning and Community Development Department prepared several policy updates to be considered by the Planning Commission and City Council. These changes were reviewed by Planning Commission in the spring and approved by City Council on June 10, 2025. Changes that are part of the Local Coastal Program were approved by the Coastal Commission on September 12, 2025.

Community Meetings & Past Meeting Information

March 13, 2025 Community Meeting: On Thursday, March 13th, a virtual community meeting was held at 5:30 PM to learn about the following policy updates. For those who could not attend, below you will find the link to the recorded community meeting.

Objective Standards

The City adopted the Objective Standards for Multifamily Housing in 2022. After a couple of years of implementing the standards, the proposed amendments aim to clarify several standards and further facilitate the development of high quality multi-family and mixed use housing. For more information, see the Objective Design Standards for Multifamily Housing - 2025 Updates page.

Density Bonus

State law and City regulations allow residential and mixed-use developments to construct additional units beyond what would otherwise be permitted by zoning when a percentage of the overall units are designated for sale or rent at an affordable cost to income-qualifying households. Amendments to the City's density bonus provisions will ensure the municipal code remains consistent with several recent updates to state density bonus law, and were identified as necessary by Housing Element program 2.3a.

Reasonable Accommodations

The Fair Housing Act requires jurisdictions to provide reasonable accommodations with regard to rules, policies, practices, and procedures where such accommodations may be necessary to make housing accessible for persons with disabilities. Reasonable accommodations provide a basis for residents with disabilities to request flexibility in the application of land use and zoning regulations or, in some instances, even a waived of certain regulations or requirements to ensure equal access to housing opportunities. The City is developing reasonable accommodations procedures and will make that information available on our website., as called out in Housing Element program 3.1c

Licensed Community Care Facilities

Housing Element program 3.1d calls for the City to update Zoning Ordinance requirements related to community care licensing facilities of seven or more people to allow these uses in all residential zones, if necessary, and modify the permitting process to permit the uses with objectivity to facilitate approval certainty similar to other uses of the same type in the same zone.

Low-barrier navigation centers

To achieve consistency with state law and Housing Element program 3.3l, proposed amendments to the Zoning Ordinance would establish a ministerial review process to approve low-barrier navigation centers to serve homeless community members. 

Supporting Historic Preservation on Mission Street

The eastern stretch of Mission Street, zoned Professional and Administrative Office District, includes several historically designated buildings, most of which were originally constructed as residences. A proposed municipal code amendment would allow these buildings to apply for approval for a residential use on the ground floor as part of a multi-family use or residential-commercial mixed use when combined with actions to rehabilitate and preserve the historic structure. 

Decarbonization

In 2018, the City of Santa Cruz declared a climate action emergency and City leaders specified that urgent action must be taken to combat catastrophic climate change. Part of that action included adopting codes, policies, and programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address public health and safety concerns by decarbonizing buildings, small off-road equipment, and municipal vehicles. For more details about the City's decarbonization and electrification strategies and goals please read the City's Climate Action Plan 2030 (CAP 2030). You can also get more information about climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, decarbonization and electrification at the City's Climate Education Resource page.

Energy Efficient Renovations Ordinance

The City of Santa Cruz is taking significant steps to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions from existing buildings as part of its Climate Action Plan 2030. City staff are developing a new policy that would mandate energy efficiency improvements for major alterations or additions to residential buildings.

Under the proposed policy, a "major" addition or alteration is defined as:

  • An addition of 350 or more square feet of floor area (in line with the Green Building Program threshold).
  • An alteration affecting 350 square feet or more of an existing building's floor area.

Applicants for such projects would be required to select from a menu of energy efficiency measures, and in some cases, provide outlets for future zero-emission appliances.

This policy will not apply to smaller projects, such as appliance replacements, window projects, roof projects, cosmetic changes, work that doesn't require a permit, kitchen appliances, or gas stoves.

The proposed requirements are current as of July 2024 and may be revised based on community feedback.

Frequently Asked Questions

We prepared a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document(PDF, 131KB) to help answer the community's questions about the proposed ordinance. This document will be updated throughout the development of the ordinance.

Community Engagement

We invite the community to provide feedback as City staff develop the new Energy Efficient Renovations Ordinance.

June 27, 2024 Virtual Meeting for Developers, Contractors and Designers

  • Developers, contractors and designers were invited to provide feedback during this Zoom meeting.

July 10, 2024 Virtual Community Meeting

  • The community was invited to provide feedback during this Zoom meeting.

August 6, 2024 City Council Study Session

Online Community Survey

Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers Ordinance

Gas-powered leaf blowers produce carbon emissions that contribute to climate change and negatively impact public health. On June 25, 2024, the Santa Cruz City Council approved an ordinance banning the use of gas-powered leaf blowers in city limits with limited exceptions. This regulation is specified as a CAP 2030 decarbonization action that will help the City meet local and state goals of reducing carbon emissions to 40% of 1990 levels by 2030. 

Community Engagement

As City staff developed the new ordinance, we invited all interested parties to share their thoughts on the proposed regulation.

Rebate Programs & Incentives

Incentives for electric landscaping equipment are constantly changing. Residents and businesses in Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito Counties are potentially eligible for rebates and incentives programs to help them switch from gas-powered landscaping tools to new, zero-emissions equipment. For information on current rebate programs, please visit: Monterey Bay Air Resources District Rebate Program. Please check the availability of state incentives programs at the California Clean Off-Road Equipment voucher incentive project website.

Suspension of the City of Santa Cruz's Natural Gas Ban Ordinance

The Prohibition of Natural Gas Infrastructure in New Buildings, Chapter 6.100, went into effect July 1, 2020 with limited exemptions. However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has overturned the City of Berkeley's natural gas ban, ruling that it is preempted by federal law. Consequently, in June, 2023, the City of Santa Cruz temporarily suspended enforcement of its natural gas ban on new buildings (SCMC 6.100).

New Buildings Energy Reach Code Ordinance

The City of Santa Cruz will be unable to reach its legal greenhouse gas emissions reduction target without addressing building energy performance as modeled during the CAP 2030 development. Staff has therefore drafted a new ordinance consistent with state and federal law in the form of a source energy reach code for new buildings to provide developers with a range of options with regard to the type of equipment and energy that will be supplied to new buildings and that will help to meet the CAP 2030 GHG emissions target. The proposed reach code increases the compliance margin for the source energy design rating required for compliance with the California Energy Code. The City Council will consider the reach code in November, 2023.

Community Engagement

In 2020 the City Climate Action and Green Building program reached out to Individuals and entities interested or impacted by such reach codes including: developers, realtors, and homeowners. Additional engagement was conducted in 2021 and 2022 to support the Climate Action Plan 2030(PDF, 11MB) development and adoption in September, 2022.

Past Meeting Information (For New Building Energy Reach Code)

Past Meeting Information (For New Buildings Natural Gas Ban Ordinance now suspended)

Informational Handouts

Existing Building Electrification

Pursuant to the CAP 2030, the City of Santa Cruz is considering policy options to accelerate the equitable electrification of existing buildings. The City conducted 4 listening sessions on June 27, 2022 with different sectoral groups to understand concerns, questions and issues related to existing building electrification. City staff will be conducting further engagement and developing policy and/or programs over 2024. Look for more opportunities to engage on this topic at this webpage.

Rebates, Incentives, and Other Programs

Incentives for building electrification and energy efficiency are constantly changing. It is hard to keep up! Please consult the following websites for the best, most up-to-date information about incentives.

Switch is On

  • Best interface and is user friendly
  • Has a few options that won't appear on EnergyStar or DSIRE such as rebates through Comfortably CA and California Energy Smart Homes
  • Doesn't include rebates for commercial buildings, electric vehicles, charging stations, top performing gas appliances
  • Doesn't include loan programs such as the EACS or mortgages

Rewiring America

  • Offers a tool to find out how much money you can get from Inflation Reduction Act incentives such as energy efficient upgrades, electrification, and adding solar + battery storage to your home.
  • The tool can combine incentives to calculate your future savings.
  • The organization also provides research and resources that highlight the economic and environmental benefits of electrifying everything from transportation to buildings

EnergyStar

  • Lays out all available rebates for residential and commercial without having to filter by type of home improvement, but allows you to easily navigate filters with section off to left
  • Plenty of commercial rebates (dishwashers, refrigerators and freezers, ovens, etc…)
  • Displays rebates offered through Golden State Rebates, but not MESP, Comfortably CA, California Energy-Smart Homes and TECH Clean California

DSIRE

  • Offers the most diverse options for energy related programs.

Central Coast Energy Services

  • Administers several energy programs to assist people with low incomes.
  • Visit the energy services website or call 1-888-728-3637.

In the market for a new stove?

Consider trying out an Induction Cooktop for free by checking out a kit from the Santa Cruz Public Library!


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