After Santa Barbara voters’ resounding defeat on Tuesday of Measure Y, Veronica Meadows developer Mark Lee can’t build a bridge over Arroyo Burro Creek to his housing project, leaving him to find another way to connect the 25-home development to a major road.
The most likely, of course, is having the neighboring Alan Road be the main access to the project from Cliff Drive, since it dead-ends at the edge of his still undeveloped property.
Lee backed Measure Y with a $250,000 campaign of his own money, but 65.9 percent of voters opposed the measure.
Lee’s attorney, Steve Amerikaner, said they’ll be examining their options, though Alan Road is “the most logical option.” Though Lee had already won approval for the housing development itself, he’d have to go through the review process for the access proposal, getting the OK from the Planning Commission and City Council.
Lee has been fighting to get his housing development built for 12 years, and the plan included a concrete access bridge across Arroyo Burro Creek to connect the homes to Las Positas Road. Lee would have paid for the bridge construction and creek restoration in the area.
Since the bridge would rest partly on undeveloped city parkland, a Santa Barbara County Superior Court judge decided Lee had to get voter approval for the bridge.
Many Alan Road residents had campaign signs in their yards, with the vast majority opposing the project, but that wasn’t always the case.
Some initially supported the bridge because it would avoid more traffic through the neighborhood, but became concerned about the impacts to the creek environment that lines their backyards.
— Noozhawk staff writer Giana Magnoli can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
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