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Capitola adopts corridor plan and authorizes nexus study RFP for 41st Avenue/Clare Street/Capitola Road
Summary
After months of outreach the council adopted the 41st Avenue / Clare Street / Capitola Road corridor plan and unanimously directed staff to publish an AB1600 nexus study RFP to evaluate an impact‑fee program funding the corridor’s multimodal improvements, while asking for additional targeted business outreach on Clare Street.
The Capitola City Council on May 28 approved the 41st Avenue, Clare Street and Capitola Road corridor plan and directed staff to publish a Request for Proposals (RFP) for an AB1600 nexus study to establish an impact‑fee program that could help fund future multimodal improvements.
Consultant Mariana Ricker (SWA Group) described the plan as a visioning document organized into zones and intended to guide future engineering and funding. The plan recommends maintaining higher‑speed auto‑oriented features on the northern portion of 41st Avenue while adding buffered or separated bike lanes and expanded sidewalks in southern zones; for Clare Street it lays out a near‑term, no‑curb‑change option (restripe to add midblock crossings and bike lanes) and a longer‑term realignment option that would use a 20‑foot building frontage zone on mall‑facing parcels to widen the pedestrian realm.
Why this matters: the corridor plan ties proposed street, plaza and placemaking investments to potential private redevelopment at the Capitola Mall site; staff recommended pursuing an AB1600 nexus study to determine a developer fair share and create a corridor impact‑fee program. “The corridor plan is a roadmap,” the consultant said, noting the plan is not a construction engineering package but is intended to guide future grant applications and design work.
Public response and council direction: the council heard lengthy public comment. Nearby businesses and property owners asked for additional targeted outreach and for careful review of proposed lane reductions or left‑turn removals; other speakers urged bolder protected bike lanes, lower vehicle speeds and pedestrian safety enhancements. Councilmembers supported issuing the nexus‑study RFP immediately to preserve the possibility of collecting impact fees should major redevelopment come forward, while also directing staff to expand outreach to businesses and refine timing details for when impact fees would be collected (the nexus study will advise on fee timing and collection triggers).
Actions taken: the council approved staff’s recommendation to publish the AB1600 nexus study RFP and asked staff to return with further outreach results and clarification of fee‑timing mechanics for development review and building permits.
What’s next: staff will issue the RFP for the nexus study, continue targeted outreach to affected property owners and tenants on Clare Street, and return to council with recommendations for fee structure and any proposed refinements to the corridor plan or phased projects. If the city secures impact fees, those could be used to fund engineering and construction for pedestrian, bicycle and streetscape projects described in the plan.
