168
Item 2 A.
We provide updated Figures 4A and 4B, as attached, providing additional notation describing the project.
CEQA Determination: These corrections clarify the relationship between the Cliff Drive Resiliency Project and the separately proposed Segment 11 trail project. They do not change the project description, environmental setting, impact analysis, significance determinations, mitigation measures, or Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program. The corrections do not identify a new avoidable significant effect. Accordingly, the changes are insignificant modifications under CEQA Guidelines section 15073.5(c)(4), and recirculation of the Draft IS/MND is not required. 169
Item 2 A.
#302
B-9
CLIFF DRIVE BEGIN WALL STA 12+70 TOW 70.5 APN 34-081-01 PARALLEL PARKING (6 STALLS) OVERLOOK STABILIZE BLUFF 450'
SHOTCRETE/ SOIL
ANCHOR WALL STA 14+30 TOW 67.8 STA 14+56 TOW 67.8 STA 16+10 TOW 66.0 STA 16+20 TOW 66.0 FUTURE MODIFICATION WITH SEGMENT 11 TRAIL BY OTHERS CITY OF CAPITOLA RIGHT OF WAY RE-STACK EXISTING RIP RAP AT BASE OF WALL END SIDEWALK END CLASS 2 BIKE LANE PROVIDE RAMP TO CLASS 1 PATHWAY VEHCILE TRAVEL LANES CLASS 2 BIKE LANES SIDEWALK TOP OF WALL/ BARRIER CLASS 1 PATHWAY BUFFER AREA EXISTING PARKING AREA NO CHANGE IN EXISTING BLUFF PARKNG EXISTING TRACKS SCCRTC POTENTIAL CURB LINE FOR ANGLE PARKING CONVERTED TO PARALLLEL SHOWN FOR REFERENCE CONCRETE CURB CONCRETE CURB CONCRETE CURB END BLUFF STABILIZATION PROJECT SCCRTC RIGHT OF WAY CITY OF CAPITOLA RIGHT OF WAY SCCRTC RIGHT OF WAY CITY OF CAPITOLA RIGHT OF WAY CITY OF CAPITOLA RIGHT OF WAY CLASS 1 PATHWAY CLASS 2 BIKE LANE EXISTING STREET CENTERLINE STREET CENTERLINE IF ANGLE PARKING CONVERTED TO PARALLEL 0.00 10.00 20.00 30.00 40.00 50.00 60.00 70.00 12+50.00 13+00.00 14+00.00 15+00.00 16+00.00 17+00.00 TOP OF WALL ELEVATION EXISTING GROUND AT STATION LINE BASE OF WALL EMBED 48" MIN INTO PURISIMA FORMATION WITHOUT ADDITIONAL ROCK SLOP PROTECTION - WALL BASE TO BE DETERMINED IN FIELD APPROXIMATE BASE OF TERRACE DEPOSIT APPROXIMATE BASE OF TERRACE DEPOSIT BEGIN WALL PLAN 1"=20' Graphic Scale (in feet) 0 1 inch = 20 ft. 20 20 40 MATCH LINE STA 17+30 PROFILE HORIZONTAL: 1"=20' VERTICAL: 1"=10' MATCH LINE STA 17+30 FIGURE 4a PROPOSED PROJECT ALIGNMENT (WEST SECTION) MODIFICATIONS TO EXHIBIT SHOWN IN RED 170 Item 2 A.
END WALL STA 20+60 APN 34-51-07 APN 34-52-14 STA 17+60 TOW 62.5 STA 19+20 TOW 58.2 STABILIZE BLUFF 450' SHOTCRETE/ SOIL ANCHOR WALL FUTURE MODIFICATION WITH SEGMENT 11 TRAIL BY OTHERS RE-STACK EXISTING RIP RAP AT BASE OF WALL NO CHANGE IN EXISTING BLUFF PARKNG MAINTAIN CROSSING CLASS 1 PATHWAY BUFFER AREA VEHCILE TRAVEL LANES TOP OF WALL/ BARRIER CLASS 2 BIKE LANE EXISTING CLASS 2 BIKE LANES EXISTING TRACKS CONCRETE CURB RAMP DOWN PHASE 1 BLUFF STABILIZATION AREA GREEN CONFLICT STRIPING -A SCCRTC POTENTIAL CURB LINE FOR ANGLE PARKING CONVERTED TO PARALLLEL SHOWN FOR REFERENCE END SIDEWALK EXISTING SIDEWALK BEGINS CITY OF CAPITOLA RIGHT OF WAY SCCRTC RIGHT OF WAY CITY OF CAPITOLA RIGHT OF WAY CITY OF CAPITOLA RIGHT OF WAY -B CLASS 1 PATHWAY STREET CENTERLINE IF ANGLE PARKING CONVERTED TO PARALLEL EXISTING STREET CENTERLINE EXISTING STREET CENTERLINE 18+00.00 19+00.00 20+00.00 21+00.00 TOP OF WALL ELEVATION EXISTING GROUND AT STATION LINE END WALL BASE OF WALL EMBED 48" MIN INTO PURISIMA FORMATION WITHOUT ADDITIONAL ROCK SLOP PROTECTION - WALL BASE TO BE DETERMINED IN FIELD SANTA CRUZ REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION CITY OF CAPITOLA RIGHT OF WAY COMMISSION EX PARKING AREA TRAVEL LANES WITH BUFFERED CLASS II BIKE LANES SIDEWALK SHOTCRETE BLUFF STABILIZATION WALL SHOTCRETE BLUFF STABILIZATION WALL SANTA CRUZ REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION CITY OF CAPITOLA RIGHT OF WAY COMMISSION FUTURE SEGMENT 11 TRAIL BY OTHERS TRAVEL LANES WITH PARKING AND CLASS II BIKE LANE CLASS 1 MULTI USE PATHWAY CITY OF CAPITOLA RIGHT OF WAY TRAVEL LANES WITH CLASS II BIKE LANE CLASS 1 MULTI-USE PATHWAY SHOTCRETE BLUFF STABILIZATION WALL PLAN 1"=30' Graphic Scale (in feet) 0 1 inch = 20 ft. 20 20 40 MATCH LINE STA 17+30 PROFILE HORIZONTAL: 1"=20' VERTICAL: 1"=10' MATCH LINE STA 17+30 FIGURE 4b PROPOSED PROJECT ALIGNMENT (EAST SECTION) MODIFICATIONS TO EXHIBIT SHOWN IN RED SECTION A : LOOKING NORTH EAST CLIFF DRIVE CROSS SECTION WITH EXISTING DIAGONAL PARKING POTENTIAL CLIFF DRIVE CROSS SECTION WITH PARALLEL PARKING (SEGMENT 11 TRAIL) THE TWO SECTIONS (SECTION A) ILLUSTRATE IMPROVEMENTS PROPOSED BY THE PROJECT. THE TOP SECTION ILLUSTRATES THE PROJECT MAINTAINING DIAGONAL PARKING WHERE IT EXISTS TODAY. THE BOTTOM SECTION ILLUSTRATES A POTENTIAL FUTURE STREET CROSS SECTION SHOULD THE SCCRTC MODIFY THE PARKING TO PARALLEL PARKING (SEGMENT 11 TRAIL). SECTION B : LOOKING NORTH EAST (PHASE 1) 171 Item 2 A.
Cliff Drive Resiliency Project
Frequently Asked Questions: CEQA Process & Project Overview Part 1: Understanding CEQA
General background on the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the environmental review process that applies to this project.
Q: What is CEQA?
A: CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act, is a state law that requires public agencies to identify and disclose the potential environmental effects of a proposed project before approving it. If a project could cause significant impacts, the agency must also identify feasible ways to avoid or reduce those impacts.
Q: What is an Initial Study (IS)?
A: An Initial Study is a preliminary environmental analysis a public agency prepares to determine whether a project could have a significant effect on the environment. It uses a standardized checklist (drawn from Appendix G of the CEQA Guidelines) covering topics such as air quality, biological resources, cultural resources, noise, traffic, and more.
Q: What is a Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND)?
A: A Mitigated Negative Declaration is the document an agency prepares when its Initial Study finds that a project could have significant environmental effects, but changes or conditions (“mitigation measures”) have been added to the project that would reduce those effects to a less-than-significant level Q: What does it mean that this is a “Draft” IS/MND?
A: A Draft IS/MND is circulated to the public and reviewing agencies for comment before it is finalized. The Draft IS/MND for the Cliff Drive Resiliency Project is dated July 16, 2026, and is subject to a 30-day public review period. After public comments are received and addressed, the City will prepare a Final IS/MND.
Q: Who is the “Lead Agency,” and are other agencies involved? A: The City of Capitola Department of Public Works is both the project applicant and the CEQA “lead agency”. The City has principal responsibility for approving the project and for making sure the environmental review meets CEQA requirements.
Because the project is within the Coastal Zone, the California Coastal Commission is a “responsible agency” and must approve a Local Coastal Program amendment and issue a Coastal Development Permit. Other agencies with a potential role include the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Regional Water Quality Control Board.
Q: How can I comment on the Draft IS/MND, and what happens next? A: During the 30-day public review period, anyone may submit written comments to the City of Capitola. The City must review and respond to comments received on environmental issues before finalizing the document. If the City decides to approve the project, it will file a “Notice of Determination” with the County Clerk and the State Clearinghouse, which starts a 30-day statute of limitations for any court challenge to the CEQA review.
Q: Does a Mitigated Negative Declaration mean there are no environmental impacts? A: No. It means the Initial Study identified some potentially significant impacts, but the project has been revised or conditioned with mitigation measures so that, with those measures in place, the impacts are reduced to a less-than-significant level. The specific impacts and mitigation measures identified for this project are summarized in Part 2, below.
Q: Does the Draft IS/MND evaluate whether the project is a good idea, or just its environmental effects? 172
Item 2 A.
A: Just its environmental effects. CEQA review is limited to disclosing and mitigating a project's physical effects on the environment. The review does not weigh in on the project's underlying merits such as whether Cliff Drive should be improved at all, whether this is the best use of public funds, etc. Those policy and design judgments belong to the Capitola City Council and the California Coastal Commission.
Q: Does the Draft IS/MND mean all of these improvements will necessarily be built as shown? A: No. The Draft IS/MND evaluates the full proposed project so that the potential environmental impacts of the maximum anticipated improvements are disclosed. As the project moves through final design, permitting, and funding, the City may ultimately construct a smaller project or reduce certain elements. The City could not expand the project beyond what was environmentally reviewed without determining whether additional environmental review is required.
Part 2: About the Cliff Drive Resiliency Project
Project-specific information drawn from the Draft IS/MND prepared for the City of Capitola (Northgate Environmental Management, Inc., July 2026).
Q: What is the Cliff Drive Resiliency Project?
A: It is a City of Capitola Public Works project to address coastal bluff erosion and the associated undermining of the roadway along approximately 800 feet of Cliff Drive, and to improve the road structure so it can better support pedestrians, bicyclists, and vehicles.
Q: Where is the project located?
A: The project is along Cliff Drive in the City of Capitola, in the City’s right-of-way generally between 4850 Cliff Drive and 4920 Cliff Drive (described for federal grant purposes as the segment “between Portola Drive and Wharf Road”, the nearest cross streets). The site is bounded by the Pacific Ocean/Monterey Bay to the southwest, residential neighborhoods to the northeast, and the Capitola Village commercial area to the northwest.
Q: Why is this project needed?
A: Bluff erosion has threatened Cliff Drive since the 1960s and is expected to worsen as sea levels rise and storms intensify with climate change. Rock slope protection installed at the base of the bluff in the early 1960s and a soil-nail wall with shotcrete facing added in 1997 have both been effective, but storms in the winter of 2022–2023 caused significant new erosion that further undermined the 1997 wall. Cliff Drive is also the primary evacuation route for low-lying Capitola Village and a key coastal access point, and it currently lacks sidewalks, which creates conflicts between pedestrians and motorists.
Q: What is actually being built?
A: The project combines bluff stabilization with a reconstructed roadway:
• A sculpted, soil-nail-anchored shotcrete wall along the face of the bluff, tied back into the bluff for stability (design life of more than 80 years).
• Rock slope protection at the base of the bluff, including an additional layer to a higher elevation. • A resurfaced Cliff Drive with two travel lanes, on-street parking, and a Class II bike lane (westbound). • A new 16-foot-wide Class 1 pathway on the ocean side of the roadway for pedestrians and cyclists, plus a 48-inch tall pedestrian barrier/railing along the bluff edge.
Q: Is the whole project being built at once?
A: The project is being phased. Phase 1 installs shotcrete facing on the most vulnerable areas of the bluff east of the overlook parking area (soil nails embedded roughly 45 feet into the bluff). The full build-out extends that same protection along the remainder of the approximately 800-foot corridor. This phased 173
Item 2 A.
approach is drawn from a 2024 Feasibility Study that evaluated several alternatives; the Proposed Project is a phased version of that study’s “Alternative 3: Protect.” Q: How does this relate to the Coastal Rail Trail (Segment 11)? A: Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (SCCRTC) is planning a multi-use trail known as “Segment 11” parallel to the rail alignment inland of Cliff Drive on SCCRTC property. The Cliff Drive Resiliency Project is a separate undertaking limited to the City of Capitola’s right-of-way along Cliff Drive. No physical connection to SCCRTC’s proposed Segment 11 trail is included in this project. The two projects are being planned independently. Segment 11 is mentioned in the IS/MND as the projects are in the same general area. An errata was published by the City on August 6, 2026, clarifying incorrect statements regarding the two projects.
Q: Who is funding and approving the project?
A: The City of Capitola applied for and received funding from the California Coastal Commission’s Local Coastal Program Local Assistance Grant Program and from the Federal Highway Administration’s Emergency Relief Program. Because it is federally funded, the project is also subject to federal grant requirements (including how the project location is described) and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.
City approvals needed include a Local Coastal Program amendment and building permits; California Coastal Commission approval of the Local Coastal Program amendment and issuance of a Coastal Development Permit are also required.
Q: What environmental impacts were identified, and how are they being addressed? A: Most topic areas in the CEQA checklist (such as air quality, noise, greenhouse gas emissions, hazardous materials, traffic, and utilities) were found to have no impact or a less-than-significant impact. Three areas were found to have potentially significant impacts that are reduced to less-than-significant with mitigation:
• Biological resources – permanent loss of a small amount of coastal bluff scrub and seep/wetland habitat, addressed through required habitat restoration (at a 2:1 or 3:1 restoration-to-impact ratio) or, if that is not feasible, mitigation bank/in-lieu fee credits, plus pre-construction nesting bird surveys during bird nesting season.
• Cultural resources – the project area is considered highly sensitive for pre-contact (precolonial) archaeological resources given its proximity to Soquel Creek and nearby recorded sites; measures include monitoring and protocols if resources or human remains are discovered during construction. • Tribal cultural resources – the City is consulting with Native American tribes identified by the Native American Heritage Commission, consistent with Assembly Bill 52, to identify and protect any tribal cultural resources or traditional cultural properties in the area.
Q: Will the project affect traffic, parking, or emergency access during construction? A: The project is expected to generate only 6 to 10 construction workers’ trips per day, far below the threshold CEQA uses to require a detailed traffic study, and emergency access along Cliff Drive would remain available throughout construction. Construction is expected to take about six months. Once complete, the project would not add new residents or generate ongoing operational traffic beyond routine roadway maintenance.
Q: How does the project account for future sea-level rise? A: The design is based on state Ocean Protection Council sea-level rise guidance and is intended to accommodate projected conditions through 2130, including both long-term sea-level rise and extreme wave runup, rather than just current conditions.
Q: Where can I find more information or submit a comment? A: The full Draft Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration, including detailed technical analysis, figures, and appendices (special-status species tables, a noise technical report, and the mitigation monitoring and reporting program), is available from the City of Capitola Department of Public Works, 420 Capitola Avenue, Capitola, CA 95010. Also, click here for a digital version. Comments on the Draft IS/MND should be submitted to the City during the 30-day public review period. 174
Item 2 A.
Part 3: Detailed Q&A — Bike, Pedestrian & Roadway Connections These questions and answers respond directly to reviewer questions on specific pages and figures of the Draft IS/MND, and are included here to clarify project details for residents along Cliff Drive.
Q: On page 3, the Project Location is described as “Cliff Drive between Portola Drive and Wharf Road, Capitola.” Is this correct?
A: Yes, but it describes more than the area where work will occur. The Cliff Drive Resiliency Project is funded through a federal grant, and federal grant descriptions must state a project’s location using the two nearest street intersections — in this case, Portola Drive and Wharf Road are the closest intersections to the ends of the project, even though the actual construction area is smaller.
The actual improvements will occur within the city right-of-way between 4850 Cliff Drive and 4920 Cliff Drive.
The only improvement proposed directly in front of residences along Cliff Drive is new pavement striping in the existing bike lane in front of 4920 Cliff Drive to clearly show how the new bike lane connects to the existing bike lane. The figure below shows the furthest easterly extent of the improvements near 4920 Cliff Drive.
Updated detail from IS/MND Errata published on 8/6/2026 showing pavement striping near 4920 Cliff Drive (furthest extent of improvements).
Q: The Draft IS/MND describes Segment 11 as ending “west of the Soquel Creek overcrossing and connect[ing] to Cliff Drive.” What does that mean for this project? A: This sentence refers to SCCRTC’s own plans for its Segment 11 multi-use trail, not to any connection built by this project. It describes where SCCRTC currently plans to end that trail. The Cliff Drive Resiliency Project is located entirely within the City of Capitola’s right-of-way, and no connection to SCCRTC’s proposed multiuse trail is included as part of this project. 175
Item 2 A.
Q: How does the new 16-foot Class 1 pathway tie into the existing city street? A: The Class 1 pathway is on the seaward (ocean) side of Cliff Drive. Today, heading east on Cliff Drive toward the Village, pedestrians and cyclists share a Class II bike lane along the bluff edge. The sidewalk ends in front of the single-family home at 4840 Cliff Drive and picks up in front of 4920 Cliff Drive just beyond Hooper’s Stairs.
In the project plans (Draft IS/MND Figure 4a, reproduced below with added highlighting), the existing Class II pedestrian/bike lane is shown in green transitions into the Class I Pathway. The Class 1 Pathway can accommodate pedestrian and bicycles. The Class 1 Pathway terminated right before the parking at Hooper’s Stairs. From the terminus of the Class 1 Pathway, green conflict striping is introduced to connect the trail with the existing bike lane in front of 4920 Cliff Drive.
The westbound Class II bike lane, for cyclists heading out of the Village, remains a standard Class II bike lane for the entire length of the project and connects to the existing westbound Class II bike lanes at both ends of the project.
An errata was published by the City on August 6, 2026, updating figures 4a and 4b of the IS/MND adding labels to the improvements to better identify the connections between the proposed improvements and existing bike/ped infrastructure.
Q: Figure 5 in the Draft IS/MND shows the Class 1 pathway with two cyclists traveling in opposite directions and one pedestrian. Is that an accurate depiction?
A: A Class 1 pathway serves pedestrians and bicyclists. As it is separated from the roadway, a bicyclists can travel in the opposite direction, perhaps to the overlook area along the bluff.
Roadway cross-section: 5' bike lane, two 10' travel lanes, and the 16' Class 1 pathway .
NOTE This FAQ is a plain-language summary prepared for general informational purposes and is not a substitute for the Draft IS/MND itself. In the event of any difference, the Draft IS/MND and its appendices control. 176
Item 2 A.