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Capitola City Council advances zoning amendments for Capitola Mall, setting tiers, heights and hotel requirements
Summary
The Capitola City Council unanimously moved zoning-code amendments for the Capitola Mall forward for further processing and Coastal Commission review, endorsing a three-tier approach with incentives for a 120-room hotel, a 35,000-square-foot commercial minimum in the top incentive tier, and limits on perimeter and core heights.
Capitola, Calif. — The Capitola City Council on March 16 advanced a package of zoning‑code amendments intended to implement the city’s housing element and guide redevelopment of the Capitola Mall block, voting unanimously to move the ordinance to the next step and to submit the amendment for California Coastal Commission certification.
The council’s direction specifies a three‑tier framework with a residential‑only baseline and two incentivized options. Under the preferred higher‑incentive tier the council set a 35,000‑square‑foot minimum for ground‑floor commercial, a target of about 120 hotel rooms and roughly 3,600–4,000 square feet of meeting space, and core heights of up to 85 feet while keeping lower perimeter heights along major streets to preserve a human scale.
Planning staff told the council the amendments are designed to align the mall site with the city’s updated housing element and to create objective standards that make review…
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