American Indian Health & Services will get a new home.

The Santa Barbara City Council unanimously approved a specific plan for the project at its Tuesday meeting that will allow the clinic to move to the corner of Las Positas Road and State Street.

“I couldn’t be more tickled that they are allowed to upgrade their facilities in a location that is more central,” Councilman Mike Jordan. “It gives people who have to be there for a long period of time other places to go, right in the surrounding area. I just think it is a great opportunity.”

After decades of underutilization, the U.S. Army Reserve site on the corner of State Street and Las Positas Road in Santa Barbara is headed for a $16.2 million transformation.

The center would serve “Native Americans, Native Alaskans and non-native medically underserved populations,” at 3237 State St. The proposed specific plan would allow medical offices and require that any future residential housing be sold or rented to very-low-, low- and moderate-income households.

The U.S. Department of Defense designated the property as excess property and transferred it to the federal Indian Health Service. The IHS then sold the property to American Indian Health & Services. The site has not been used as an armory since 2009.

The specific plan offers the clinic an assurance that the project will get approved at some point, but the specifics still need to be worked out and the clinic will need to submit a formal proposal.

Beth Collins, an attorney with Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, represented the clinic at the meeting.

“After 30 years of serving the Santa Barbara community, this community nonprofit, community health clinic seeks a permanent home,” Collins said.

She said that for the past 30 years AIHS has been renting a “hodgepodge” of office buildings at the El Mercado Shopping Center, “which, frankly, is not ideal to their operations.”

“This project seeks to design and build its permanent dream home for this important community clinic,” Collins said. 

The council was receptive to creating the specific plan, stating only that the zoning for the potential housing go from 12 units per acre to five units per acre.

Council Supports Sidewalk Vending Ordinance

The City Council voted 6-1 to support a sidewalk vending ordinance designed to legalize an underground economy.

“If there’s a vendor who has one cart, who is doing well and would like to purchase a second cart, and grow his or her business, it is incredibly difficult to do so if you are not included in the formal economy and don’t have access to capital,” Mayor Pro Tem Meagan Harmon said.

Sidewalk vendors would need to pay business taxes and display a business tax receipt. The Finance Department will accept a California driver’s license or identification number, or an individual taxpayer number in lieu of a Social Security number, to issue a business license. Sidewalk vendors who vend food must obtain and display a county Health Department permit.

Alcohol, tobacco and electronic smoking devices, including cannabis and cannabis products, are not allowed.

Vending would be banned on sidewalks on State Street from Cabrillo Boulevard to Victoria Street. The new ordinance would not apply the week of the annual Old Spanish Days Fiesta, to allow for vendors to sell cascarones, or confetti-filled eggs. Sidewalk vending would be prohibited from the Cabrillo Boulevard intersection to the end of Stearns Wharf.

Stationary sidewalk vending would be permitted on the south side of Cabrillo Boulevard, as long as the vending cart is located farthest from the street and a clear pedestrian path of travel of at least 8 feet is maintained along the sidewalk. Sidewalk vending would be prohibited on the north side of Cabrillo Boulevard.

The ordinance also states that umbrellas cannot exceed 48 inches in diameter and 80 inches in height.

The council agreed to a one-year moratorium on fines for vendors who don’t comply, and, after that, a warning for the first offense. The staff also will offer a report after the first year on how the program is working.

“The chances that a vendor will take advantage of us are very, very slim,” Harmon said. 

The time would be better spent educating the vendors on the program, she said.

Councilman Oscar Gutierrez said he opposed the change because it was placing an unnecessary hurdle to the microbusinesses.

The ordinance will be formally introduced next week.

— 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.