Bright lights on Cathcart Street in Santa Cruz signal vibrant nightlife, as Hula Island Grill and Lupulo Craft Beer House welcome customers into their restaurants and serve them in heated parklets. (Samuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel file)
SANTA CRUZ — The Santa Cruz Planning Commission will review rule changes at its meeting Thursday that aim to make temporary outdoor dining and drinking areas set up on private property during the COVID-19 pandemic more permanent.
The Planning Commission put proposed amendments to the city code on hold at its April 18 meeting while more research could be done after local restaurant owners said the changes proposed at the meeting would be costly and burdensome for already cash-strapped business owners.
On Thursday, in addition to reviewing ways to create a permanent outdoor dining area on private property in the city, the Planning Commission will consider a project to replace, upgrade and modernize the Graham Hill Water Treatment Plant and its facilities — and proposed work to transform the site of the closed Pacific Cultural Center on Seabright Avenue into a different kind of center entirely.
According to the agenda report, Santa Cruz City Schools wants to acquire the property across from Gault Elementary School, and turn the space into a vocational learning center and student drop-off location for Gault Elementary School.
At a Planning Commission meeting in mid-April, city staff presented proposed municipal code changes aimed at streamlining the process for making temporary seating areas permanent and saving business owners time and money, but were met with opposition from local business owners.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the city established a temporary outdoor expansion program to keep restaurants and bars operating during the lockdown, allowing establishments to expand into outdoor spaces on public sidewalks and public property. The program was extended multiple times by the Santa Cruz City Council.
In 2022, the City Council extended temporary permits for outdoor seating on private property through the end of last March. City staff was directed to work with an ad hoc subcommittee to streamline the permit process and make ordinance changes necessary to make temporary outdoor seating permanent. In late February, the City Council proposed extending the temporary Outdoor Expansion Program permit for private property businesses through May 31, 2025, to allow for a thoughtful transition to permanent seating.
Under current zoning rules, if an establishment wants to build an outdoor seating area on private property, it requires the approval of several permits and a public hearing, which takes about three months and can cost the business owner more than $7,000 in permit application fees.
At the April meeting, staff suggested that businesses seeking outdoor seating areas of 300 square feet or less, and that do not include permanent overhead structures, furniture or heaters, could go through a simplified building permit review with a reduced fee and shorter time frame — and that outdoor seating areas of more than 300 square feet or that include permanent fixtures would require a standard building permit review, which involves substantial fees and costs, though the review timeline would be shorter. Because many establishment owners are seeking to create outdoor dining spaces larger than 300 square feet, many expect the simplified building permit review could be extended beyond that limit.
However, according to the agenda report, after reviewing whether simplified building permit review could be expanded to outdoor dining areas greater than 300 square feet, city staff concluded that it could not be done and “the threshold for the simplified building permit review process could not be expanded due to state building code requirements for plumbing fixture counts and exhaust requirements.”
The Planning Commission will consider staff's findings at its meeting Thursday.
To read the meeting agenda, visit cityofsantacruz.com.
if you go
What: Santa Cruz Planning Commission meeting.
When: 7 p.m., Thursday.
Location: Santa Cruz City Hall, 809 Center Street, online