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Santa Cruz updates code to bar onshore support for offshore oil and deep‑sea mining
Summary
The City Council amended municipal code to modernize its 1980s-era protections, explicitly banning onshore support facilities for offshore oil and extending the voter‑approval requirement to cover deep‑sea mining; council and staff said the action strengthens local control and complements state and regional advocacy.
Santa Cruz’s City Council updated the municipal code to strengthen protections against industrial activities that would facilitate offshore oil development and emerging deep‑sea mining operations. The ordinance amends definitions and zoning rules, expressly prohibits onshore support facilities for offshore extraction and seabed mining in affected industrial districts, and extends the city’s voter‑approval procedural requirement to deep‑sea mining.
Vice Mayor Kellen Johnson, who led the initiative, said the update modernizes the city’s earlier approach while preserving the community’s long‑standing commitment to coastal protection. Sustainability and resiliency officer Tiffany Wise West summarized the legal and technical work: the ordinance adds findings and clarified definitions, adds two land‑use districts to explicitly prohibit support facilities, and ties implementation to the Local Coastal Program (LCP) process, which requires coastal commission review.
Nonprofit advocates and scientists testified in favor. Katie Thompson of Save Our Shores said the ordinance continues Santa Cruz’s coastal leadership, and marine scientists warned about the uncertain and potentially long‑lasting ecological impacts of deep‑sea mining. George Leonard and other speakers emphasized that onshore facilities are essential to enabling large‑scale offshore extraction and that blocking onshore support is an effective local control measure.
Council members praised the collaborative process and directed staff to proceed with the second reading. The ordinance passed on the council vote and the LCP‑related zoning changes will become effective after coastal commission review and the standard notice and filing periods required by state law.
Next steps: staff will file the statutory notices, coordinate with the coastal commission on the LCP amendments, and continue to submit letters and comments in state and federal regulatory processes related to offshore extraction and seabed mining.
