More changes are ahead for Milpas Street in Santa Barbara.
The Architectural Board of Review on Monday will review a 90-unit, four-story residential and hotel project at 418 N. Milpas St., between East Gutierrez and East Haley streets.
It’s the largest residential and commercial project on Milpas Street since the City of Santa Barbara implemented its average unit-sized density incentive program in 2013.
“The community needs rental housing, not this condo craze that happened in the 1990s,” property owner Bob Ludwick said. “We need more housing. We should do this for the next generations of Santa Barbarans.”
The mix of housing would include 34 studio units, 44 one-bedroom units and 12 two-bedroom units. The project sets aside 15 of the units to be rented at below market rates.
A small, 4,561-square-foot bed-and-breakfast hotel and retail space also are proposed for the property. Plans include 52 parking spaces for residents and 14 more for the hotel.
The project is also proposed under state Senate Bill 330, which requires cities and counties to slash the time it takes to process permits for housing that meets the local government’s existing rules. The law also caps the number of public hearings on a housing project proposal at five.
Like California, Santa Barbara is experiencing a chronic housing crisis, and government decision-makers are under pressure to build new apartments and affordable housing units.
But there is also pushback.
“This project is Legoland and has no place on Milpas Street,” said Natalia Govoni, owner of the adjacent property and business at 422 N. Milpas St. “The size, bulk and scale are clearly not compatible for this area.”
She said she is also concerned about the current residents.
“It is unconscionable that the applicant of this project would even consider displacing all of the elderly residents who reside in the cottages located at 915-923 E. Gutierrez St.,” Govoni said.
“They are all on fixed incomes and would have no where to go if this project is permitted to be built.”
The project site is L-shaped and includes the former La Sumida Nursery, a vacant lot and eight units of senior housing.
A graduate of Westmont College, Ludwick has been involved in the community for decades. He is a principal at Pacific Southwest Realty Services and also serves as president of the Coast Village Association.
The community, he said, needs more housing for all income levels.
“It’s everybody,” Ludwick said. “It’s when the kids graduate from UCSB they can’t afford to live here.”
Ludwick said he doesn’t believe in a single solution to the housing problem. It takes a consistent effort and people need to be flexible, he added.
“Housing is so competitive,” he said. “There is really no solution. I don’t believe in a solution. I believe in a discussion about tradeoffs.”
Ludwick also pushed back against those who call him a “developer.”
“I am not a developer,” he said. “I am a steward of a piece of property.”
The property was formerly the home of La Sumida Nursery, but Ludwick said it recently has had a “hodgepodge” of uses.
The eight housing units are not restricted to low-income seniors, he said, adding that he accepts Section 8 vouchers for those residents because he is a good landlord and that the arrangement remains a possibility once the new units are built.
“I love those people,” Ludwick said. “They are my friends. I am 70, and I know what it is like to be older and have not many options.”
The La Sumida Nursery project follows an 82-unit project at 701 N. Milpas St. that recently won a development agreement between the city and the developers.
More such projects are expected on Milpas Street, downtown and the Westside. To meet state demands, the city must find locations to build 8,001 units by 2031.
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
