Permitting Process for 100% Affordable Housing

Upcoming Engagement Opportunities

Join us for a virtual Community meeting at 6pm on Thursday, July 9th. After a presentation by Community Development Department staff to describe the proposed updates, there will be time to ask questions and to share your comments and ideas. We look forward to your participation!  

Project Overview 

Affordable housing developments are those where 100 percent of the units are offered for reduced rents or sale prices to Moderate- or Lower-income households. These projects provide much needed housing for income-restricted households but often face constraints related to fees and permitting timelines that affect their ability to be constructed.  

These projects, like all housing development projects, must currently go through a two-step permitting process under current City regulations: 

  1. A discretionary, subjective permit process that takes several months to complete, costs tens of thousands of dollars in permit fees, and requires approval either at a staff level or at a public hearing with the Zoning Administrator, Planning Commission, or City Council. 

  2. A building permit process that takes several months to complete before the permit is issued and construction can begin. 

However, due to changes in state law over the last several years, the City can now only review proposed housing development projects based on objective criteria, making subjective review criteria and the associated discretionary permit process obsolete. The proposed updates to the local zoning ordinance would streamline the permitting process for 100 percent affordable housing projects by removing the first, discretionary step for qualifying projects.  

A new Affordable Housing Ministerial Approval Overlay district(PDF, 8MB) would include all sites in the City that are currently zoned to allow multi-family or mixed-use buildings but would exclude certain environmentally sensitive areas, such as sensitive habitats or sites in the FEMA flood zone. The overlay district would continue to allow all uses currently allowed on those sites and would create a new option for 100 percent affordable housing projects to qualify for a streamlined approval process when the project meets specified criteria. 

Proposed Overlay: Click to open detailed map 

Affordable Overlay.png

 

For development projects to qualify for streamlined permitting, they must: 

  • Offer 100 percent of the units, except for up to three manager’s units, at reduced rent or sale price to Moderate- or Lower-income households 
  • Not be located in sensitive environmental areas 
  • Not demolish a historic building, structure, or landmark 
  • Be consistent with the Objective Design Standards for Multifamily Housing and other objective development standards in the Zoning Ordinance, except as allowed to be modified through the state density bonus law 
  • Be consistent with standards to govern the removal and replacement of heritage trees. 

The streamlined approval process would involve a preliminary application review for City staff to comment on project design, one or two community meetings for developers to gather feedback from the public, and a building permit. 

The proposed amendments are anticipated to be heard by the City Council later this year. Because the proposed zoning overlay is also partially in the Coastal Zone, these changes would need subsequent approval by the Coastal Commission to go into effect in the Coastal Zone. 

Past Events 

November 19, 2025: Community meeting 

The Community Development Department held a virtual community meeting on Wednesday, November 19, 2025 to gather input on a variety of policy efforts, including streamlining permitting for 100% affordable housing development projects. The meeting included brief presentations from City staff and time for questions and answers. The recording and Q&A report are available here: 

December 18, 2025: Planning Commission 

The Planning Commission reviewed the proposed amendments and recommended that the City Council formally approve them. See the December 18, 2025, Planning Commission meeting page for a recording of the meeting along with the staff report and draft amendments. 

Want to share your thoughts?  

We are committed to a community informed process and want to hear from you. If you have additional questions or would like to provide further feedback, please contact project manager Clara Stanger: cstanger@santacruzca.gov. 

 

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