By Jondi Gumz
Lifelong local Rob Oliveros sees a conflict of interest in the First District, where county Supervisor Manu Koenig appointed founder of the Workbench development firm, Tim Gordin, as his planning commissioner, in 2021.
Gordin resigned his seat Nov. 18, three weeks before the supervisors voted to up-zone 30 parcels — including 3500 Paul Sweet Road where Gordin proposes 105 apartments as workforce housing, making the property more valuable. The reason for up-zoning — to meet the state mandate to build more housing — 4,634 homes by 2031.
Workbench team Tim Gordin (from left), Jamileh Cannon and Sibley Simon.
The 6-story Sweet Homes project qualifies for the “builder’s remedy,” bypassing rules on height and density and bypassing public input because the state had not yet approved the Santa Cruz County Housing Element, the plan for future housing.
County planning staff write the Housing Element, which is reviewed by the Planning Commission and then by the Board of Supervisors.
The supervisors sent the Housing Element to the state in November 2023, meeting the deadline but approval by the state Housing and Community Development Department came after the Dec. 31 deadline, developers could take advantage of the builder’s remedy.
And Workbench did.
Gordin, the Nexties 2020 Entrepreneur of the Year, did not respond to questions from the Capitola-Soquel Times.
Koenig, who was re-elected March 5, did.
“Let’s take a step back and look at the big picture. Developers can only build what the law allows them to build,” he said. “State housing law has changed radically in recent years and is now making possible 5- and 6-story projects in the unincorporated county, even though our local zoning code only allows 3. The big changes in the law have happened at the state level by removing local control. Therefore you can’t blame the local planning commissioner for these changes, you have to blame the state.”
Koenig explained: “I appointed Tim in 2021 because he and his firm were working creatively to solve the housing crises. They had designed pre-approved ADU plans for a number of cities and their largest project at the time was 15 units on Soquel Drive called The Dwellings.”
In 2021, Koenig appointed Lisa Sheridan as alternate Planning Commissioner.
He pointed out, “Lisa led the Sustainable Soquel effort to fight the Nissan dealership; is a strong voice for open space preservation at Anna Jean Cummings Park; and worked as a local Realtor, giving her a background in land use.”
Koenig added, “Tim, like any public figure, was bound by conflict of interest law and abstained from voting whenever the outcome had an impact on his business. The Paul Sweet Rd parcel was identified by staff for upzoning and Tim was not present at the meeting where the Planning Commission approved the rezoning. The fact that our county was thrown into Builder’s Remedy, even though we submitted our Housing Element on time is another example of the State subverting local control.”
The alternate seat was vacant for months while Koenig recruited.
Building in Santa Cruz County has been historically challenging, especially for multifamily housing.
According to the Texas A&M University Real Estate Research Center, which tracks permit nationwide by county, Santa Cruz County has issued fewer than 300 multi-family permits per year since 2010.
The highs were 250 in 2016, then 283 in 2021 and 278 in 2023.
The lows were 17 in 2009 after the housing market crashed, 33 in 2010 and 71 in 2020, when the Covid pandemic hit.
Housing advocates such as Sen. Scott Weiner, D-San Francisco, and YIMBY see a lot of catching up to do.
But there are questions about how the housing mandate numbers were generated, whether the population projections were fully vetted before assumptions were made to generate need for each city and county.
But during the last housing mandate cycle, a judge declined to intervene in a lawsuit in Southern California filed by the city of Irvine.
Oliveros is the founder of Santa Cruz against Runaway Development, Facebook group with more than 1,000 members.
He said he wants to bring the conflict to light so it does not happen again.
16-Story Clocktower
For those unfamiliar, Gordin started Workbench in 2016 with architect Jamileh Cannon, a board member of housing advocate Santa Cruz YIMBY, who has designed a dozen multi-story housing projects, including 4575 Scotts Valley Drive, revisioning the vacant Seagate tech property into 100 affordable family rentals.
Since Event Santa Cruz named the pair Nexties Entrepreneur of the Year, Workbench has grown to 22 people, some local and some coming from Southern California.
Gordin’s completed projects include The Dwellings, 5701 Soquel Drive, Soquel, 13 townhomes and two home renovations, Hanover Homes, Multi- family housing near Branciforte Library, and two custom homes in Pleasure Point.
His projects in process include: 47 studios above the Food Bin, Mission St., Santa Cruz, 16 multi-family homes on May Street, Santa Cruz, a 6-story building, 76 residential units, 1023 Soquel Drive, Santa Cruz, and 100 affordable rentals at 4575 Scotts Valley Drive, formerly Seagate in Scotts Valley.
On April 3, Workbench unveiled a proposal to build a 16-story high-rise with 260 homes at 2020 N. Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz, vacated by Lighthouse Bank, and purchased on July 19, 2023 for $4.375 million.
This would be the tallest building downtown.
Workbench said this project “re-imagines an underutilized urban site as a sustainable high-rise community.”
This new vision and Gordin’s philosophy left shock waves.
On April 9, the 14 residents on the Save Pleasure Point Steering Committee, wrote to Koenig, citing Gordin’s interview in the Santa Cruz Sentinel explaining his philosophy for projects to have maximum density and substantial height.
They wrote, “We respectfully question Mr. Gordin’s ability to act impartially with understanding, appreciation and the obligation for a middle ground, which is preserving our community’s uniqueness to a developer’s wants for size, density and profit.”
They said they welcome development on Portola Drive, the thoroughfare through Pleasure Point following established guidelines that all new development be compatible with Pleasure Point’s style and character.
For those unaware, Pleasure Point is a historic surfing community with no buildings taller than 2 stories.
The steering committee made one more ask: “do not seat another developer (or the like) in this position.”
In response, Koenig said, “The scope of Tim’s projects changed significantly at the beginning of this year with the Clocktower project proposal in April and the builder’s remedy projects. I responded to Save Pleasure Point’s letter by saying that I didn’t see any way that Tim would subvert the process or radically change densities through his position. I also said that I would start by appointing a new alternate Planning Commissioner (as Lisa had recently stepped off the commission).
He added, “The work the Planning Commission deals with is technical and complex and it’s important that appointees have some background in land use. That’s why I just appointed an architect (Shane Pavonetti) and a general contractor of 45 years (Luke Rizzuto).”
He elaborated, “I selected the new District 1 appointments because I’m confident they will champion incremental housing growth and small property owners. Luke brings extensive knowledge about building in this county thanks to 45 years as a local general contractor. Shane brings comparative knowledge having built his own home in Austin Texas as well as in Santa Cruz County.”
Sweet Homes
Sweet Homes, on .52 acres across from Oakwood Memorial Park & Cemetery, is a project in the works since Workbench bought the property for $1.325 million on Dec. 7, 2022.
Gordin created an LLC for the project, Sweet Developments, on Nov. 17, and Sweet Developments GP on March 17, 2023.
On Oct. 10, when Koenig hosted a community meeting on the Thurber Lane-Soquel Drive housing project for 181 affordable apartments, he was asked if Gordin was still his planning commissioner.
The answer: Yes.
Asked how is that not a conflict, Koenig said, “I appointed an alternate.”
The county website however listed only Gordin, with the space for an alternate left blank.
On Dec.10, Koenig made 2 appointments on the consent agenda, Shane Pavonetti, an architect in Texas, and Luke Rizzuto, as alternate.
841 Capitola Road
Sweet Homes is not Gordin’s first builder’s remedy project.
Gordin purchased a .89 acre-property at 841 Capitola Road with a home dating to 1925 for $1.65 million on Jan. 26, 2022.
Gordin created an LLC for the project, 841 LLC, on Jan. 7, 2022.
The Workbench website says 15 single-family homes were proposed but Santa Cruz Local reported Gordin proposed 40 apartments then reduced the number to 28.
Another Workbench Appointee
Gordin was not Koenig’s only appointee from Workbench.
For the county Housing Advisory Commission, which advises the Planning Commission, Koenig appointed Sibley Simon, a partner with Gordin in Workbench.
Simon is the founder of nonprofit New Way Homes, which is seeking investors for its affordable housing impact investment fund. He worked years to make Harvey West Studios, a five-story complex with 121 units of supportive housing at 119 Coral St., a reality. This location is near an existing shelter for the homeless.
With Workbench handling design & construction, Simon’s projects include 801 River St., Santa Cruz, renovating a Victorian home into 7 units of supportive housing, Peace Village, 40 mixed income homes on Peace United Church property, and 841 Capitola Road, 28 mixed income rentals on Capitola Road, a 6-story project with 83 affordable family units and ground-floor commercial in Oakland and 75 affordable family units with ground floor commercial in Salinas.