Capitola commission delays LUP amendment but backs zoning changes tied to Cliff Drive resiliency project

The Capitola Planning Commission on Sept. 4 continued consideration of proposed Land Use Plan (LUP) and Local Coastal Program (LCP) amendments tied to the Cliff Drive Resiliency Project, and separately recommended that the City Council approve updates to the zoning code that staff said are needed to implement shoreline adaptation work.

The LUP amendments — revisions staff described as intended to align the city’s policies with current sea level‑rise and coastal adaptation planning — were continued so staff could fold in edits requested by the California Coastal Commission and other clarifying language. Commissioners voted 5‑0 to continue the LUP action and asked staff to return with a clean, consolidated draft at the next planning‑commission meeting.

The commission approved, by the same 5‑0 margin, a resolution recommending that the City Council adopt changes to Capitola Municipal Code chapters cited by staff (including 17.32, 17.64, 17.76 and 17.78) with the meeting’s edits. That recommendation includes replacing repeated references to “pedestrian and bicycle” with the term “multimodal.” The council will have final authority on the ordinance amendments.

Project team members described the Cliff Drive Resiliency Project as a multi‑phase effort focused first on the portion of Cliff Drive where bluff failure risk is highest. “Council elected, and recommended us to proceed with…