SANTA CRUZ – A three-story, 100% affordable housing project called Westside Village planned at 850 Almar Ave. near Almar Shopping Center in Santa Cruz is one step closer to breaking ground after the Santa Cruz Building Department issued building permits Wednesday.
Samantha Haschert, Santa Cruz’s zoning and principal planner, opened the project’s public hearing by noting that under recent state density premium laws, such as AB 1287, a 100% affordable development in this area could legally be about 63 feet, or five stories, tall.
“State law has changed significantly in the last year,” Haschert said at the meeting. “The state has put in place significant protections to protect these types of affordable housing projects. We have to process these permits within certain timelines and only use objective standards. And objective standards are standards that are clear and identifiable and do not involve any discretion on the part of the city.”
Heschert emphasized that objective standards are “clear and recognizable” – criteria such as a height limit of 9 meters or the determination that a height is not compatible with a neighborhood.
“Over the last year or so, we’ve seen a lot of developments in the city that have taken advantage of these state laws as much as possible,” Heschert said. “I don’t see that with this project, but we’ve seen that in other places in the city.”
The approximately 36-foot-tall, 39,000-square-foot Westside Village project is proposed to be built on the triangular, grassy plaza at 844 and 850 Almar Ave. between Rankin Street and the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail. The affordable project will house 38 rental units, including 23 two-bedroom and 15 three-bedroom apartments. The meeting agenda report said the building design was inspired “by the aesthetic of a warehouse” because the project is located near industrial, retail and residential areas.
The building will not have an elevator, but according to the project plans, the ground floor apartments are designed to be accessible to people with disabilities. The project will include a common room, offices for administration and a laundry room on the ground floor, as well as an outdoor square with a children’s playground next to the common room.
The developer, CRP Affordable Housing and Development, is taking advantage of the state’s density bonus laws to add 19 bonus units, reduce building setbacks to front and side yards, reduce usable open space from 37.6 square meters to 6.9 square meters per housing unit and build about 1.8 meters higher than the area’s 9-meter height limit.
“They stay well under the maximum height allowed on the property under the density premium law,” Heschert said. “There is no on-site parking, which is required under the state’s legal requirements. They provide one parking space per unit. That’s voluntary.”
The project will include 38 on-site car parking spaces, or one space per unit, and 38 Class 1 bicycle parking spaces for residents. Access to the parking lot will be from Almar Avenue and is intended to serve as a buffer to the existing retail and warehouses near the project.
Several community members who live on and near Rankin Street raised concerns about the proposed 831 Almar mixed-use project, including street parking, traffic and utility infrastructure.
“We are advocates of affordable housing and always knew when we bought the house that something was going to be built there, so this seems like a reasonable option,” Rankin Street resident Katie Hunt said at the meeting. “We’re calling on the city to look at the neighborhood from a comprehensive perspective.”
After public comment and discussion, Heschert approved the shoreline permit, design permit and density bonus request at the meeting. The decision can be appealed to the Planning Commission until August 19.
To view the meeting, visit cityofsantacruz.com.
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