Council Rejects Proposed Competing Initiative on Building Heights

The vote means that in November 2009, Santa Barbara residents will vote on just one measure.

By Rob Kuznia, Noozhawk Staff Writer | Published on 11.19.2008

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The Santa Barbara City Council on Tuesday narrowly rejected an attempt to begin the process of putting a measure on the ballot that would compete with a citizen-driven initiative that a year from now will ask voters to significantly lower the height limits of new buildings.

Tuesday’s 4-3 vote means that in November 2009, Santa Barbara residents will vote on just one initiative, the citizen initiative, which supporters say is necessary to maintain the city’s small-town charm, and critics say is overly simplistic, and likely to exacerbate the squeeze felt by the city’s middle class.

As it stands now, buildings in the commercial zones of Santa Barbara can be 60 feet high. The initiative calls for lowering the limit to 40 feet in the historic downtown area and 45 feet in the rest of the city.

The competing initiative, brought to the council by Councilman Das Williams, was a compromise, limiting the height to 40 and 45 feet in the same areas, but allowing developers to go as high as 60 feet when they go well above and beyond on affordable housing. “Above and beyond” may have been defined as any project in which 30 percent of the projects are considered affordable — twice the percent that is required by city ordinance.

Williams and others have said the height initiative as proposed would accelerate the city’s middle-class exodus because developers thus far have tended to build a higher percentage of affordable units than is required by city law only when they can maximize the amount of units in the given space provided.

“The 40-foot limit would not allow for affordable housing — it doesn’t give that flexibility,” he said. “We should at least give the voters the chance to choose between these two measures.”

Meanwhile, Save El Pueblo Viejo, the group that collected more than 11,000 signatures to put the initiative on the ballot, argues that lowering the height limits would not reduce affordable housing options if developers showed more willingness to lower the ceilings of the individual units.

One member of the group, Connie Hannah of the League of Women Voters, criticized the competing proposal, saying it would allow for the construction of the very building that has stirred up much of the recent outcry over building heights: the Paseo Chapala condo complex on Chapala Street. Though the complex is filled with luxury condos, 30 percent of its units are considered affordable to middle-class buyers.

The group’s leader, former Planning Commissioner Bill Mahan, urged the council to vote against the proposal, saying it would go against the will of the people. Mahan admitted that he voted for Paseo Chapala as a planning commissioner.

“The voters came and looked at those buildings afterward and they said, ‘Too big, too big. This doesn’t fit Santa Barbara’s character,’” he said.

He added that if the initiative passes and years later a developer comes along with plans for a structure standing in excess of 45 feet that city leaders feel would benefit Santa Barbara, that the city could put a measure on the ballot for that specific building.

Michael Holliday, a member of the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects, said he supported the competing measure.

“We think a city-sponsored measure can at least begin to address the complex issues that are going to be involved in a program like this,” he said.

Although four council members voted against it, two of them — Roger Horton and Iya Falcone — also oppose Mahan’s ballot initiative.

Horton went as far as to describe Mahan’s comment on floating separate ballot initiatives for individual buildings taller than 45 feet as “wacky.”

“That doesn’t make any sense to me,” he said. “But just throwing another initiative out there just doesn’t feel right. It just doesn’t feel like something we should be doing. I don’t like either one of them.”

Also opposed to the competing measure were Mayor Marty Blum and Councilman Dale Francisco, both supporters of the initiative by Save El Pueblo Viejo.

“There’s a long tradition in the city of Santa Barbara of the citizens telling the council what they think,” Blum said. “I think that’s what we have here with this initiative.”

Council members Grant House and Helene Schneider voted in favor of the proposal.

“It’s not a competing initiative; it’s an alternative initiative,” Schneider said. “Let the voters tell me which one they want.”

Write to rkuznia@noozhawk.com.

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» The Voters wrote on 11.19.08 @ 04:54 PM

The Voters don’t want the City Council selling out to developers (shame on Das).  The voters don’t like tall buildings in S.B.  The Voters Don’t want over-development. The Voters will pass the citizens initiative. The voters know best.

» Ummmm wrote on 11.19.08 @ 06:08 PM

With the exception of those voters who approved Prop. 8, right?

» Show me proof wrote on 11.19.08 @ 07:37 PM

The housing advocates are making a false claim that they need to be able to build 60 feet high in order to be able to provide affordable housing.

this is Bull--pure and simple.
I say that this is a false claim and I claim that they cannot prove his is true.
I claim that it is fact cheaper to build 4 stories in 40 feet at 10 feet each than to build 4 stories at 15 feet each.

I can prove that 4 stories can in fact be built in 40 feet.  They, however can not prove that 4 stories cannot be built in 40 feet.

If a 60 feet high 4 story building can solve our housing problems I ask anyone to show me just one such project that has ever been built in Santa Barbara with market units that are affordable to our workforce.  It cant be done because there are no such projects.  Why not.  Ask yourself this question; If no such 60 feet 4 story project full of affordable units has ever been done here before just what makes one thing any such project would ever be built here in the future?  the answer is --you got it--- there will never ever be even one such project built here even if the height limit is left at 60 feet.

Do not be fooled--the architects and developers want 60 feet for just one reason--so they can build high end $1,500,000 luxury units with 12 feet ceilings.

It is a fact that there is only one way to build affordable units and that is to build them on cheaper R-3 land a few blocks from downtown rather than on pour most expensive commercial downtown land.  yes there will be some mixed use housing projects built down town but these will all be high end projects with 85% high end units and only 15% inclusionary subsidized affordable units which will not make our hosing problem better, but will in fact make our housing problem worse because all the high end units will cause an increase in the demand for service workers to serve them

» Helene has sold out wrote on 11.19.08 @ 07:48 PM

Helene and Das and Grant have all three sold out to the developers.

Its time for the citizens of this beautiful community to throw these three bums out!
Lets recall them now.

Vote for Iya for our next mayor as she has so much more good sense than Helene.

The 11,000 voters told Helene what they wanted by signing the height initiative to lower building heights downtown to 40 feet but Helene ignored them thinking she knows best and tried to sabotage the initiative of the people by putting in place a competing one.  Well I got news for her she doesn’t know anything about city planning and she is out of touch with what the majority of the residents want--lower building heights

» sbnative wrote on 11.20.08 @ 08:22 AM

Amazing ignorance in this town. BANANAs to the max.

» sbreader wrote on 11.20.08 @ 03:32 PM

Roger Horton is flip flopping—and there will be a reconsideration of the vote on Tuesday at 2 pm. Termed out and a very lame duck, he obviously has no political ambition. If there is a city council competing measure on the ballot in November 2009 those running for council and mayor who support it will have their feet held to the fire to say without waffling which of the two measures, the citizens’ or the council’s, they prefer.

» Listen up Das wrote on 11.20.08 @ 03:45 PM

We’ve had it with the spin of “affordable housing”....take me to the affordable housing in the mega-behemoth ugly cement blocks on Chapala.....does the amount of “affordable” even come close to compensating for all the service workers the high end penthouses will result in?? Do you think people in this town are nuts? Take you smart growth theories and realize that is all they are--theories.  Man, one week you’re protecting RV-dwellers on my street and all the filthy behavior that surrounds them and then you’re trying to impose a 60 ft height measure around me. Dude, you have outgrown SB...you must move on to bigger and better...didn’t I read something about Afghanistan???

» sbnative wrote on 11.21.08 @ 07:40 AM

“There’s a long tradition in the city of Santa Barbara of the citizens telling the council what they think,” Blum said. “I think that’s what we have here with this initiative.”

Proof positive Blum couldn’t lead her way out of a tin can… Let’s see, I can’t lead, so I’ll follow.

For heaven sakes! Pearl Chase would be appalled!!! Did she wait around to hear “what the people think.”

It’s not the height, it’s the balance, it’s the aesthetics, it’s the blend of site plus building. It’s not rocket science either, but our “leaders” have no background in architecture and thus can’t lead. HEADS UP: get rid of some of the other lousy rules on the books about building in this town, then you’ll get better buildings. Jeez.

God help this town.

 

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