Welcome to the Santa Cruz Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) web site.

The Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) was created by State law in 1963 to regulate the boundaries of cities and special districts. There is a LAFCO in each of the 58 counties of California. The objectives of LAFCO are:

  • to encourage efficient service areas for services provided by cities, counties, and special districts;

  • to guide urban development away from prime agricultural lands and open space resources;

  • to promote orderly growth; and

  • to discourage urban sprawl.

The Commission in Santa Cruz County is comprised of seven members: two city council members chosen by the mayors of the cities in the county, two county supervisors chosen by the Board of Supervisors, two special district board members chosen by the twenty-four independent special district board chairpersons in the county, and a public member chosen by the other members of LAFCO.

As a public agency, LAFCO discusses and acts upon its business monthly in open public meetings. We welcome your interest and participation in the important matters under study by LAFCO.

UCSC North Campus

On December 7, 2011, LAFCO voted in concept to authorize the City of Santa Cruz to provide water and sewer services to the UCSC North Campus.  On March 7, 2012 LAFCO revised the conditions of approval.  The matter will be back on the LAFCO agenda at its June 6, 2012 meeting, which begins at 9:30 a.m.
---Dec. 7 Agenda Materials
---Dec. 7 Motion
---Mar. 7 Agenda Materials
---Mar. 7 Motion

Water Policies

On February 2, 2011, LAFCO conducted a public hearing to consider amending its water policies. The Commission voted 7-0 to amend and adopt the recommended set of policies.
The adopted set of policies is posted here:
--Link to policies as adopted Feb. 2, 2011
Note that the water policies are not contained in a single policy document, but rather are incorporated into three pre-existing sets of policies.

Emergency Cell Phone Notification (Reverse 911)

Santa Cruz Regional 9-1-1, which dispatches emergency police, fire, and ambulances in Santa Cruz County, has a service. In cases of imminent threat, it has the capability to make reverse 911 calls to cell phones. In the case of an imminent threat, the Santa Cruz Regional 9-1-1 would make an automated call to cell phones registered to threatened addresses. A sample message might be "At 9:30 on Monday morning, a mandatory evacuation has been ordered for all homes on XYZ Road due to threat from the wildfire. " To utilize this service, cell phone users must register with the dispatch center:
--Link to Santa Cruz Regional 9-1-1 Registration

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

      
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