City of Santa Cruz issued the following announcement on Dec. 4.
The City’s Municipal Code currently regulates development on or near slopes based on the percent of the slope, with development on or near slopes of 30% to 50% allowed with a slope modification permit or slope variance. Development on slopes of over 50% is not allowed.
Several policies in the 2030 General Plan suggest or direct that these provisions be amended so that development is regulated by the geological conditions of the property rather than the percent of slope. This may allow some properties where development is currently prohibited to be developed. It might also prohibit development on properties where such development may currently be allowed, although the more likely outcome for these properties would be that engineering solutions to challenging soil conditions would be required.
Why Update Slope Regulations?
The proposed updates would retain findings that limit grading and require buildings to use architectural techniques to blend with the existing topography of the site, minimizing visual impacts from new development.
The intent of the update is to move from a strict cutoff for development on or near slopes, which may not address the actual conditions of specific properties, to a system where development is based on the individual characteristics of each property, allowing development that can safely be accomplished without restrictions based solely on the percent of the slope of the land.
How is “percent slope” determined?
The percent of a slope is simply the Rise (height of the hill) divided by the Run (width of the hill) as a percentage (x100).
Here is the Percent Slope formula: Slope = (Rise/Run) x 100.
So if a slope goes up one foot for every three feet of the property depth,
it is a 33% slope and if it goes up one foot for every two foot of property depth, it is a 50% slope.
Interested in Attending the Virtual Community Meeting:
A virtual community meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, December 9th from 6-7 p.m. to gather input from the public.
At time of community meeting please use the Zoom link to join:
Zoom Meeting - Slope Regulations
At time of community meeting you may also call in for commenting and/or listening using any of the following meeting ID # and phone numbers:
MEETING ID#: 992 9327 3801
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+1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)
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Original source can be found here.
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