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Board upholds Planning Commission denial of three‑lot East Cliff Drive subdivision and dwelling plan
Summary
The board denied an appeal and upheld the Planning Commission’s ruling that a proposed subdivision and three new dwellings at 22702 East Cliff Drive lacked required technical reports and conflicted with coastal hazard and development standards.
The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Aug. 5 denied an appeal by an applicant seeking to subdivide a 16,000‑square‑foot parcel at 22702 East Cliff Drive into three lots and to construct three new dwellings, upholding a June Planning Commission denial.
Planning staff said the application remained incomplete because required geologic, coastal hazard and technical reports had not been accepted, and that the proposed new parcels in a coastal hazard area conflict with the county General Plan and Coastal Act policies. Nathan Macbeth, planner, told the board the project also required multiple discretionary approvals — a minor land division, a coastal development permit, exceptions to Pleasure Point design criteria and site development review — and that county code requires geotechnical and technical reports to be complete and accepted before approval.
The applicant’s attorney argued the county’s intake and completeness process improperly delayed the project and raised state law claims including an SB 478 (state housing‑streamlining) interpretation. The applicant also disputed how coastal bluff setbacks were calculated. County staff and multiple neighbors said the submittal lacked crucial items — accepted geotechnical reports, visual simulations from the beach, neighborhood meetings and a complete stormwater management plan — and that the bluff and local erosion create real hazards.
County geologist Craig Stewart told the board that excavation volumes proposed (roughly 5,000 cubic yards in the application) would trigger a formal review and could be permitted but only with accepted technical reports and findings specific to erosion and stability.
After testimony from neighbors and local experts about bluff erosion, and after county counsel outlined the legal standards and review process, the board voted to deny the applicant’s appeal and uphold the Planning Commission denial. The vote included one abstention from Supervisor Cummings; the motion passed with the remaining supervisors voting to affirm the commission.
Why it matters: The case highlights the tension between state incentives for faster housing approvals and coastal land‑use and hazard protections. County staff emphasized that technical, site‑specific hazard findings are required before ministerial or discretionary approvals in coastal bluff settings.
What’s next: The Planning Commission’s denial stands. If the applicant wants another hearing, the applicant must supply accepted geotechnical and technical reports and refile; any revised application will be subject to full Coastal Act and county code review.
