The Santa Cruz County Design Guidelines were developed as part of the Sustainability Update project to support the County’s sustainability goals and contribute toward building functional and livable communities. The guidelines offer illustrative examples of how new projects should be built to best fit the County’s design objectives while still offering developers, architects, designers, and property owners the flexibility to be creative in their projects. Alignment with the design guidelines is crucial for streamlining the review process and ensuring that project designs are attractive, functional, context-sensitive, and complement or enhance the community’s vision.
How to Use the Guidelines
The Santa Cruz County Design Guidelines should be used in conjunction with the Santa Cruz County General Plan, County Code, and Design Criteria for streets and frontages. The guidelines provide ideas and best practices for well-designed projects, whereas the General Plan, County Code, and Design Criteria set land use requirements and quantitative development standards that projects are legally required to follow. In cases where design guidelines are related to specific quantitative requirements, links to the relevant standards are provided.
Chapter 13.11 of the County Code identifies which project types are subject to the Santa Cruz County Design Guidelines. Projects that are not required to follow the Design Guidelines are still encouraged to follow applicable provisions in Chapter 2: Overarching Design Guidelines.
Santa Cruz County Design Guidelines
The complete Santa Cruz County Design Guidelines is available here. You can also access each chapter individually by clicking the links below.