Local Rules Near Downtown Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz Code §6.110.030 prohibits property owners from authorizing the operation of any gas-powered leaf blower at any time for any purpose, citywide.

Sound amplifying equipment may not be used between 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m., and in designated commercial zones amplified sound on public property that can be heard 125 or more feet away is presumed unreasonably loud.

Vehicle noise in Santa Cruz is regulated by California Vehicle Code §27150–27151 (muffler and modification rules) plus local §10.40.270, which limits engine idling on city streets to 90 consecutive seconds.

Santa Cruz prohibits any offensive noise between 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. that is made within 100 feet of a building used for sleeping or that disturbs anyone within hearing distance.

Construction noise falls under the 10:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. curfew, so work generally must occur between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m.; limited public-works and emergency exceptions allow a 7 a.m. start or night work only with written city authorization.

Santa Cruz's noise ordinance expressly names barking or howling dogs as 'offensive noise,' which is prohibited between 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. and may be unreasonably disturbing at any hour.

No Santa Cruz-specific ordinance directly regulates aircraft noise in flight; such regulation is federally preempted by the FAA, and California PUC 21669 sets airport noise standards administered by Caltrans.

Santa Cruz Municipal Code Ch. 3.28 imposes the Uniform Transient Occupancy Tax on accommodations rented for 30 consecutive days or less, including STRs, hotels, motels, and B&Bs.

Santa Cruz IZO §24.12.1770 applies the §9.36 noise standards to short-term rentals and bans weddings, parties, and other large engagements. Quiet hours are 10:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. including all amplified noise.

Every short-term rental in the City of Santa Cruz must hold a short-term rental permit and a Transient Occupancy Tax certificate. New permits are limited to owner-occupied 'hosted' rentals, with a citywide cap of 250 hosted permits; no new non-hosted (non-owner-occupied) permits are issued.

Santa Cruz IZO §24.12.1770(3) caps vehicles at one per one-bedroom unit, two per two- or three-bedroom unit, plus one additional vehicle per bedroom over three.

Overnight occupancy at a Santa Cruz short-term rental is capped at two persons per bedroom plus two additional persons. Only one rental agreement may be in effect at a time, vehicles are limited by bedroom count, and special events such as weddings and parties are prohibited.

Santa Cruz adopts the California Fire Code Wildland-Urban Interface chapter under §19.05.270 plus a local Wildfire Risk Areas chapter (Title 19 §19.05.310 / Fire Code Ch. 90).

Open burning in Santa Cruz requires a Fire Department burn permit ($50), is limited to parcels of one-half acre or larger, and is generally allowed only during the December 1 - April 30 burn season on declared burn days. Burning is prohibited on parcels under half an acre (except where yard-waste pickup is unavailable) and within 100 feet of a neighbor's structure.

All fireworks - including 'safe and sane' - are prohibited to possess, manufacture, store, sell, handle, or use anywhere in the City of Santa Cruz. The City deletes the state Fire Code's fireworks chapter and replaces it with an outright ban, and fines triple during the July Fourth safety enhancement zone period.

The City of Santa Cruz allows backyard recreational and warming fires daily unless wildfire danger is high. The fire must be no more than 3 feet in diameter and 2 feet high, kept at least 25 feet from any structure or combustible material, constantly attended with extinguishing equipment on hand, and may be ordered out by the Fire Department if deemed unsafe.

Santa Cruz adopts the CAL FIRE Fire Hazard Severity Zone map under §19.20.010, triggering wildland-urban interface (WUI) building and defensible-space requirements citywide for designated zones.

Santa Cruz Municipal Code §10.40.120 prohibits parking any oversized vehicle on a public street, alley, or city parking lot between midnight and 5:00 a.m. unless a city manager permit allows it.

Santa Cruz §10.40.080 bars commercial vehicle washing on driveways, sidewalks, or streets; §10.40.070 prohibits vehicle repairs on public streets; and Title 6 §6.28 treats inoperable vehicles in yards as a public nuisance.

Santa Cruz §10.40.115 prohibits parking any commercial vehicle with a manufacturer's gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or more in any residential district.

Santa Cruz §10.40.050(a) prohibits parking any vehicle on a city street or alley for more than 72 consecutive hours.

Santa Cruz IZO §24.12.160(1)(f) limits fences and hedges in clear corner triangles and clear vision areas to 3 ft 6 in. State Civil Code §841 also governs shared boundary-fence costs.

A conditional fence permit is required whenever a fence exceeds the standard height limits - over three feet six inches in the front or exterior side yard, or over six feet behind the setback lines. The zoning administrator may approve modest cases without a hearing; larger ones require a public hearing and specific findings.

Santa Cruz limits fences to three feet six inches within the front and exterior side yard setbacks, six feet in the exterior side yard when set back at least three feet, and eight feet elsewhere (the portion above six feet must be at least 50 percent open lattice). Anything taller requires a conditional fence permit.

Santa Cruz prohibits barbed-wire fences, electrified or not, without a conditional fence permit, and bars any fence that creates a fire or traffic hazard. California Civil Code 841.4 separately declares a malicious fence over ten feet a private nuisance.

Under Santa Cruz zoning code 24.12.630, family farm animals (including poultry) may be kept only on a residential lot of at least 20,000 square feet - up to two large and ten small farm animals - and never run at large. Enclosures must sit at least 40 feet from a neighbor's dwelling and 20 feet from the owner's property line, and 7+ small animals require an administrative use permit.

Santa Cruz §8.14.320 makes it unlawful for any dog owner to permit a dog to be off the owner's premises unless securely restrained by a leash. Dogs at large violate §8.14.310.

Santa Cruz zoning code (SCMC 24.12.620) allows a maximum of six domestic animals on any residential lot, of which no more than three may be dogs and no more than one may be an unspayed female dog. SCMC 8.14.130 separately bars keeping more than one unspayed female dog per residence.

No Santa Cruz-specific ordinance restricts dogs by breed; California Food and Agricultural Code 31683 preempts breed-specific bans and provides that 'no program regulating any dog shall be specific as to breed.' Santa Cruz instead regulates dangerous behavior - any 'vicious animal' (defined by conduct, not breed, in SCMC 8.04.010(s)) must be confined and may be ordered muzzled and leashed.

Santa Cruz Municipal Code §16.02.040 bans irrigating turf, gardens, and ornamental landscape between 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. except by drip or hand-held shutoff nozzle, and prohibits runoff and other wasteful uses.

Santa Cruz Municipal Code Section 24.10.160(3)(f) flatly prohibits the placement of any sign advertising a home occupation. A home business may not display an exterior business sign, keeping the residential appearance of the property intact.

Santa Cruz Municipal Code Section 24.10.160 allows a home occupation only as a use clearly incidental and secondary to the dwelling, operated by a resident, employing no more than one nonresident, occupying no more than 400 square feet, and generating no more than eight vehicle round trips per day.

California Government Code Section 51035 prohibits Santa Cruz from banning a cottage food operation in a residential dwelling. The city must treat it as a permitted residential use or grant a nondiscretionary permit; Santa Cruz processes these through a home occupation zoning clearance (about $142).

Santa Cruz Municipal Code §18.32.030 requires every outdoor swimming pool to be enclosed by a fence or wall at least 5 feet high with openings no greater than a 4-inch sphere can pass and a maximum 2-inch gap below.

Santa Cruz Municipal Code §18.32.020 requires permit application to the chief building official with detailed plans (in duplicate, including plot plan) showing construction method, location, and wastewater disposal.

A one-story detached shed under 120 sq ft needs no building permit under California Residential Code R105.2, and under Santa Cruz Municipal Code 24.12.140 a shed under 120 sq ft and 15 ft tall is also exempt from design-permit review; however, no accessory building may sit in a front or exterior side yard, and zoning rules still apply even when a building permit is not required.

The City of Santa Cruz allows converting a garage into an accessory dwelling unit under Santa Cruz Municipal Code 24.16.125 and 24.16.130; a conversion ADU may use the existing structure (plus up to 150 sq ft of expansion), and the city cannot require notice or a placard to demolish a detached garage being replaced by an ADU.

The City of Santa Cruz allows accessory dwelling units on lots of any size in any zone that permits residential use, processed ministerially under Santa Cruz Municipal Code (SCMC) Chapter 24.16 Part 2, with statewide-exemption detached ADUs capped at 800 sq ft of livable space, 4-foot side and rear setbacks, and 16-18 ft height.

Santa Cruz IZO §24.12.1320(5) allows cannabis retail sales in Community Commercial (C-C), Thoroughfare Commercial (C-T), General Industrial (I-G), and IG/PER-2 Districts with an administrative use permit and city license under Ch. 6.91.

California Civil Code §1946.2 (AB 1482) provides just-cause eviction protection for covered tenants after 12 months of occupancy. Santa Cruz Code §21.07.010 extends those protections to Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher holders.

Santa Cruz Municipal Code §5.40.030 requires a business license for peddling or soliciting; §5.40.050 limits door-to-door solicitation to 9:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m. §5.40.040 bars entry on premises posted with a no-solicitation sign.

Santa Cruz Municipal Code §9.04.030 makes it unlawful for a child under 16 to tarry or remain in any public place between 11:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m.