🚨 URGENT: STOP THE RUSHED 7TH & BROMMER DEVELOPMENT 📣

Time is critical. The developer has publicly stated they intend to break ground December 11, before any Coastal Development Permit, public hearing, or final approval exists. We need everyone acting now.

The County approved the sale of this property to Community HousingWorks for $3.28 million. At least 99 of the 100 units must remain affordable rentals for a minimum 55-year term. The proposal places a four-story, 100-unit building directly against an established neighborhood of single-story homes, with no meaningful transition in scale.

What we know, and what needs to stop

• A construction date before approval exists. The developer says groundbreaking is December 11. There is no Coastal Development Permit, no completed second Development Review Group meeting, and no scheduled hearing. We are demanding written confirmation of what legal authority allows this, and that no construction begin before final approval.

• Disaster recovery funds, misplaced priority. This project is funded  through federal disaster recovery dollars. The County's own 2026 Civil Grand Jury found only 18% of homes destroyed in the CZU Fire have been rebuilt, five years later. The County is now issuing El Niño preparedness warnings to residents. We are asking why disaster recovery funding isn't going to rebuild CZU survivors' actual homes first.

• All 100 units concentrated on 2.3 acres, with 1.14 acres held open for more building later. We are demanding the same 100 units be spread across the full 3.5 acres already entitled for this project now, not later. Coastal Commission staff themselves acknowledged concentrating the project against existing homes instead "doesn't make sense," and no coordinated alternative has ever been formally studied.

• Waterway, sewage, and water usage impacts remain unresolved. A required 4-foot retaining wall appears likely to block or redirect water away from the site's natural waterways rather than allow it to flow there directly, and we don't yet have confirmation this has been properly studied. Separately, while sewer capacity has been confirmed, the project's overall water usage and supply demand for 100 units, and the cumulative effect of added runoff, traffic, and parking surface on the surrounding harbor-area habitat, have not been clearly answered.

• The preserved oak grove needs binding, legal protection, not a promise. We are demanding an independent arborist assessment and a recorded Tree Protection Zone under Santa Cruz County Code Chapters 16.34 and 16.32.

• Unresolved environmental questions: a required 4-foot retaining wall that may block natural water flow to existing waterways, and unassessed cumulative traffic, parking runoff, and habitat impact on the surrounding harbor ecosystem.

• Public access denied, despite the Coastal Commission's own recommendation. Commission staff confirmed in writing they personally recommended the site's green space be made public, and were overruled by the developer and County, citing liability, an excuse that doesn't hold up given California Civil Code §846 already protects landowners who allow public recreational access.

Whether this project even qualifies for streamlined "Minor Development" review, based on meeting every required objective standard, remains unconfirmed.

We are not against affordable housing. We are against a rushed, undisclosed process that concentrates every impact on the people who already live here.

Act now, here's exactly what to do:

Sign this petition and share it everywhere.
Email these people today, demand written answers before December 11:

• Supervisor Manu Koenig: Manu.Koenig@santacruzcountyca.gov
• County Planner Jonathan DiSalvo: jonathan.disalvo@santacruzcountyca.gov
• The developer: 7thandbrommer@gmail.com
• State Senator John Laird: senator.laird@senate.ca.gov
• California Coastal Commission, Central Coast District Office: (831) 427-4863

Watch your mail. The moment the official notice arrives, request a public hearing in writing immediately, in the coastal zone, only a 15-working-day notice period applies, and a hearing happens only if we ask for one.

Know the appeal process now, before you need it. If the Zoning Administrator approves this project, an appeal to the California Coastal Commission must be filed within 10 working days of that approval. Standing to appeal generally requires having submitted written or oral comments during the local review process, so make sure your concerns are on record now, through this petition and your own emails, so you're eligible to appeal later if needed.

Every signature, every email, every voice raises the cost of pushing this through without answers. ACT NOW. 📣

We'll keep this petition updated as we get responses. Thank you for standing with your neighbors.