What seemed like a list of simple improvements to a West Downtown neighborhood generated considerable controversy during Tuesday’s Santa Barbara City Council meeting. The council approved the measures 6-1, with Councilman Dale Francisco dissenting, but not without a meaty discussion.

It’s an effort to enhance corridors along Anapamu and Ortega streets that extend from Highway 101 pedestrian bridges to Chapala Street and into the city’s commercial district.

Among the improvements listed were pedestrian lighting, sidewalk replacement where needed, enhanced crosswalks and landscaping, and new trees. Embedded in the list, however, were bulb-outs, or curb extensions, which planners say are used to increase pedestrian safety.

The “traffic-calming” measures are controversial, and some contend that curb extensions hinder bicyclists and the turning radius of larger vehicles, while others say they slow down vehicles traveling too fast, increasing pedestrian safety.

Opinions from both sides were voiced as the council took public comment. Three City Council candidates — Frank Hotchkiss, David Pritchett and Michael Self — were on hand to speak about the item.

Hotchkiss said it was too much money to spend on the improvements, which amounted to “elective cosmetic surgery.”

“We’ve got sidewalks and streets there. … We could take some wrinkles out, but do we really want to spend $3.5 million on what doesn’t really improve things?” he asked. He recommended the item be tabled until the city is in a better financial position.

Self reminded the council that the city is more than $10 million in debt. “We know this is due to overspending,” she said.

Self, founder of Santa Barbara Safe Streets, said residents have been calling her out of concern that 18 mature trees would be cut down in the process.

“It would be better if the money is spent on our crumbling bridges and infrastructure,” she said. “The citizens are calling it another ‘Blue Line.’”

Pritchett, chairman of the city’s Transportation and Circulation Committee, said the people with whom he has talked are in favor of the project. Curb extensions would improve pedestrian safety, he said.

“Curb extensions, bulb-outs, whatever you call them, are effective … especially on Bath and De la Vina,” he said.

Resident Jim Westby said he couldn’t understand why the city would spend so much “when so many people are hurting.”

He said the curb extensions would hinder cyclists and large vehicles, and bring pedestrians closer to traffic. “We have a lot of sidewalks out there that need repair. … That’s the kind of thing we should be doing,” he said.

At a time when the city is wont for General Fund cash, many projects are being scrutinized by a wary public. But the money for the improvements must go to Redevelopment Agency projects, and can’t go toward anything related to the General Fund.

According to a city staff report, priorities were voiced by West Downtown residents in a series of workshops beginning in 2002. After the Public Works and Transportation departments developed the project and presented it to the public, it went through multiple review boards and was approved by the Architectural Board of Review in April.

The staff report said planners had considered drainage, vehicle turning movements and peak-hour bicycle lanes for the improvements. As a result of that study, bulb-outs would not be placed at the Ortega and De la Vina, Anapamu and De la Vina, and Chapala and Anapamu intersections.

Francisco said that while certain parts of the project were admirable, such as street lights, “the bulb-outs were a problem.”

If bus lanes were added to those streets in the future, he said, curb extensions would become “permanent obstructions.”

Councilman Das Williams reminded speakers that the money funding the project can’t be used for ongoing expenses.

“This is not a frivolous, aesthetics-based project,” he said, adding that curb extensions, at a modest size, could be useful.

Councilwoman Helene Schneider said the project has been in the works for years, and “to say we’re $10 million in debt and we’re spending $3 million on this project is so full of error.”

Councilman Grant House agreed. “This is not drawing from the same funding sources that were mentioned,” House said. “This has the safety improvements the neighbors have been asking for for years. We don’t need traffic flying through our neighborhoods.”

Councilwoman Iya Falcone said the council needed more community input about the placement of the bulb-outs, and said she wasn’t in favor of the curb extensions, per se, but called the rest of the improvements “amazing.”

“I don’t want to delay this neighborhood getting their lighting and safety,” she said, before voting to approve the motion.

— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at lcooper@noozhawk.com.