City of Santa Cruz’s Downtown Plan Expansion Approved!

SANTA CRUZ, CA (August 14, 2025)— California Coastal Commission approves City of Santa Cruz’s Downtown Plan Expansion at their August 13 meeting in Calabasas, California. 

The Downtown Plan Expansion is a transformative project for the downtown area south of Laurel Street with a focus on affordable housing, public amenities and economic opportunities. The City has been working with stakeholders on this project for nearly five years.  

“The Downtown Plan Expansion delivers changes Santa Cruz has needed for decades: reinvestment in an underused area, stronger beach-to-downtown connections, new public spaces along the San Lorenzo River, and more housing, including affordable units," said Mayor Fred Keeley. "It also marks an important step toward a new arena that will be the permanent home of the Santa Cruz Warriors and a regional event hub. I’m grateful to the Coastal Commission staff for their collaboration and proud to support the staff recommendation as we move this vision forward.”  

“..The City of Santa Cruz is taking its infill development obligations seriously including pioneering creative mechanisms to achieve local, regional, and state goals related to housing at a range of affordability, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle miles traveled, enhanced multi-modal transportation, improved public and coastal access and connectivity between its prime visitor-serving coastal areas and its downtown, and enhanced visitor-serving and economic vitality, and the City should be commended for those efforts…,” said California Coastal Commission staff in related report. 

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