SANTA CRUZ >> At its meeting Thursday evening, the city of Santa Cruz Planning Commission approved a six-story, mixed-use building spanning three parcels on the 1800 block of Mission Street between Dufour and Palm streets.

Only four of the seven commissioners attended the meeting, with Commissioners Timerie Gordon and John McKelvey giving notice that they would be absent and Pete Kennedy recusing himself from the meeting because the company he works for serves as a consultant for the project’s applicant, Workbench.

According to the project plan set, the privately funded mixed-use building known as “Mission Studios” will span just more than a third of an acre, across 1811, 1815 and 1819 Mission St. The approximately 14,681-square-foot structure will have commercial uses on the ground floor along with a residential lobby and parking garage with 14 spaces and with five stories of apartments above. The building is about 75 feet tall and would contain 67 rental units with 40 studios and 27 two-bedroom apartments.

Five of the apartments would be set aside as very low-income units, or a family of four bringing in between $98,900 and $158,700 per year, according to the 2025 state income limits, with one unit designated for those considered low income in Santa Cruz County, which is considered to be a family of four making between $158,700 and $159,350 per year. Two of the affordable units are already set aside for the current residents of the to-be-demolished buildings. Five of the units would be designated for those making moderate income, or a family of four making $159,350 per year, and the remaining units would be rented at the market rate.

At the meeting, Santa Cruz Senior Planner Rina Zhou provided the commission and community members with a presentation about the development. She pointed out that state law limits the discretion that the city or Planning Commission has while reviewing the project.

“With that being said, I do want to highlight some of the voluntary actions that this developer took in their effort to address neighborhood concerns and work with the neighborhood,” said Zhou. “The concerns that were brought up from the neighborhood include, parking, traffic, loading zone impacts to the neighborhood, comments regarding the height, the massing, setbacks as well as comments regarding the original design of how the project looked. And so, the applicant did significantly revise and redesign the project, which they are not required to do, in an effort to address community feedback.”

The revisions include frosting the windows on the rear elevation of the building to address privacy concerns along with the developer funding a permit parking program, which would have to be initiated by nearby residents and the developer paying $1,000 to 12 of the closest neighbors to purchase “trees and shrubs to shield views,” said Zhou. She pointed out that the entire building design was also changed to address concerns brought up at a community meeting last year.

“The original design was very rectangular and boxy,” said Zhou. “The material and color palette felt cold and rigid with the look of the ground floor being really dark and uninviting because of the color scheme and materials. The public also commented that the project did not really fit in well with the character of Santa Cruz.”

The redesigned project has recessed entries, a wider sidewalk and “the upper floors are also a lot more architecturally interesting,” said Zhou. She pointed out that landscaping on the building’s upper terraces will serve to block the view of the single-family homes below.

Following Zhou and a presentation by Workbench staff members, the meeting was opened to public comment, where numerous nearby residents spoke against the project, and expressed concerns about the building height, parking, privacy and loading zone concerns, among others.

“I think it’s a travesty that there are only six low-income housing (units),” said Dominic Christopher Rangel, who lives next to the proposed project, and also said that 14 parking spaces seemed inadequate for the residents, which was also brought up by others who live near the project, such as Joe Hudson.

“The parking situation is also a disaster waiting to happen,” said Hudson. “There are only 14 spaces for over 67 units, most with two to four beds. That means potentially 120 to 150 residents, not including guests or commercial traffic. With no loading zone and no real transit infrastructure, this guarantees spill-over parking, traffic congestion and unsafe conditions, including for Bay View Elementary kids just one block away. It’s a fallacy to believe these tenants will not want or bring cars. Any approval must mitigate the parking issue for the existing neighborhood. This project does almost nothing for affordability. It’s predominantly market rate and the developer still won’t say what rents will be.”

Like many who spoke during public comment, Hudson asked the commission to deny the project, which the body does not have the power to do, as Planning Commissioner Rachel Dann pointed out later in the meeting.

“I’m going to vote for this project but that doesn’t mean I support it,” said Dann. “I believe it could be better if the height were lower, if it fit in better with the community, if the neighbors didn’t have folks peering down on them, if there was parking. There will be people with cars. They will be parking in the neighborhood. Parking will get worse. That’s just what’s going to happen but this project fully complies with state law. That’s just a fact. This project is lawful. All of the concessions comply, the height complies, the no parking complies, the no loading zone complies, and these aren’t laws that have been crafted and made in your city. These are laws that have been crafted and made at the state Legislature that the city has been mandated to incorporate into the code.”

The motion to approve the project was made by Planning Commissioner Matthew Thompson and seconded by Chair Michael Polhamus. The motion passed unanimously with Gordon and McKelvey absent, and Kennedy recused.

To watch the meeting, visit cityofsantacruz.com.