Scotts Valley council certifies EIR and adopts 2025 Town Center Specific Plan allowing up to 657 housing units

Scotts Valley — The City Council on unanimous votes certified the final environmental impact report (EIR) and approved the 2025 Town Center Specific Plan on the evening's agenda, advancing a long‑planned effort to create a compact downtown with housing, retail and public plazas.

Troy Reinholter, lead consultant for the specific plan, told the council the effort "represents the culmination of several years of hard work by staff, our team, community, and decision makers." The plan would cover roughly 60 acres, including 12 acres purchased from the city of Santa Cruz that formerly made up Skypark Airport, and allow up to 657 housing units over a 20‑year build‑out, along with about 82,000 square feet of commercial uses and roughly 35,000 square feet of public or quasi‑public space.

The council also certified the final EIR and adopted a statement of overriding considerations for two impacts the report found could not be fully mitigated: long‑term greenhouse gas emissions and contribution to vehicle miles traveled. Oconee Danielson, who presented the EIR, said the findings reflect the limits of local control over statewide climate outcomes and the plan's projected long‑range travel effects.

Council members asked detailed questions…