Santa Cruz, California — 2025 Year in Review
Land use and zoning activity from city and county planning meetings in Santa Cruz during 2025.
Santa Cruz County indexed 2,205 projects with at least one decision in 2025, leading to 3,336 approved and 21 denied actions. Approval was effectively unanimous at 99.4% — typical for a county where most agenda items are administrative or staff-recommended. Davenport drove most of the activity (1,683 of 2,205 projects, 76%), with Capitola a distant second.
“Projects with decisions” counts unique projects. “Approved” and “Denied” count individual actions (one project can have multiple actions across meetings).
2,205
Projects with decisions
3,336
Approved actions
21
Denied actions
99.4%
Approval rate (of actions)
By city
| City | Projects | Approved actions | Denied actions | Approval % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capitola | 237 | 418 | 13 | 97.0% |
| Davenport | 1,683 | 2,516 | 7 | 99.7% |
| Live Oak | 59 | 72 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Scotts Valley | 223 | 327 | 1 | 99.7% |
Data from public meeting documents processed by Boardwalk. Coverage varies by jurisdiction. Not all cities are included.