CAPITOLA — At Thursday’s meeting, the Capitola City Council approved new zoning ordinances for seven parcels throughout town, as well as a plan to create new standards for the redevelopment of Capitola Mall.
For months, Capitola has been struggling to comply with housing requirements passed down from the state. The city must identify sufficient sites with appropriate zoning that would allow for the development of at least 1,336 new residential units by 2031, a tall order for a city that is mostly built out and already more densely populated than other cities in the region. As a part of that housing element, the city must update zoning ordinances to allow for redevelopment of the Capitola Mall, a site where the city plans for over 1,770 housing units to be built, by the end of 2025.
Now, the City Council has approved a plan to create standards for mall redevelopment and has passed zoning amendments to allow for higher-density housing at seven sites throughout Capitola (Capitola Cove, Capitola Gardens, Landing at Capitola, Clares and 46th, Capitola Avenue and Hill, Rosedale and Hill, and 600 Park Ave.). The zoning ordinance changes drew in several residents who said that development of those sites would be detrimental to their neighborhoods, decreasing privacy and increasing traffic.
Capitola Mall is one of the only places in Capitola with the space for significant development. A project that would create mixed-use retail and residential areas in the Capitola Mall has been in discussion for years. After stalled progress due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the city has gotten the project going again. City officials have been in discussion with Merlone Geier Partners, a firm which owns a large amount of the mall property, about how to facilitate development.
Originally, the council was set to approve a plan to develop zoning standards for the property at the Aug. 28 City Council meeting. At the meeting, Councilmember Susan Westman expressed frustration that the council was being asked to approve a plan to create zoning standards without any ideas of what Merlone Geier planned to build on the property. Merlone Geier, on the other hand, had told the City Council that it could not make any design plans without zoning ordinances in place.
Ultimately, Westman and Councilmember Melinda Orbach agreed to form an ad-hoc subcommittee to meet with Merlone Geier in the two weeks before Thursday’s meeting and discuss options. That committee was successful, the councilmembers said — in fact, Jamas Gwilliam, a managing director at Merlone Geier, attended the meeting to talk about the options. Ultimately, the council agreed on a plan that stuck to the shortest timeline possible — the objective standards for zoning, which have a December 2025 deadline, are set to be completed in January 2026. The plan also presents opportunities to engage with stakeholders and the community, and will cost the city $68,000. Ben Noble, a city planning consultant, will work with the city to develop objective standards for the property.
Gwilliam said at the meeting that community engagement, while important, was not necessary at this stage, and could come later, once design plans at the property are made. Orbach also expressed preference for an option that would involve fewer community meetings, and that would cost the city an estimated $46,000.
Westman and Councilmember Gerry Jensen disagreed, voicing their support of keeping the community engaged throughout the process, both to hear their feedback and keep them informed about processes that can become complicated and difficult to understand. “Community involvement is not a roadblock,” Jensen said. “It’s a foundation for teamwork.”
The council also voted on new zoning ordinances for several properties across Capitola, some of which are in residential areas. Noble, who also helped to develop these ordinances, came to the meeting to present the changes. The ordinances would allow for higher-density housing at seven sites. For example, 600 Park Ave. would be allowed to have 30 dwelling units per acre, while current zoning regulations would allow for 10. The changes also involved some changes in height allowances, allowing for 40-foot-tall buildings in areas zoned to have 40 dwelling units per acre.
Several residents showed up voicing strong objections to the zoning changes. Many argued that the regulations would mean they had less privacy, as well as less sunlight coming into their homes. Some also called the parking requirements in the ordinances insufficient, arguing that new buildings would make street parking more difficult.
The council sympathized with the community but also maintained that they were forced to balance the needs of Capitola and the demands of the state. The housing element requires development opportunities to be spread evenly across the city, so allowing for development at the mall, and nowhere else, wouldn’t cut it.
“I think it is hard for the community to understand what the state of California has done to us,” Westman said. She also said if the council failed to comply with the housing element, developers may be allowed to come in and build structures that are against Capitola’s zoning ordinance, and it would be better to pass the ordinance to maintain some control. “If builder’s remedy comes, there could be a seven-story building on Park Avenue.”
Eventually, the ordinances passed. Orbach and Westman, as well as Vice Mayor Margaux Morgan, voted yes on the changes, and Jensen and Mayor Joe Clarke voted no.
Capitola contains around 10,000 residents in 2 square miles, and is largely built out. Several councilmembers expressed frustration that the state is requiring the city to pack even more housing into such a small area.
“I know a lot of people who live here in Capitola care about it deeply, and don’t want to see it turn into something that’s not Capitola,” Clarke said. “I don’t really care what the state wants us to be, but I think at every chance we get, we should do what we can to keep it Capitola.”
