Bringing back parades, incorporating De La Guerra Plaza, creating spaces for families and improving permitting are just a few of the Santa Barbara Planning Commission‘s ideas for State Street. 

The commission had its chance to weigh in on the draft State Street Master Plan on Thursday.

Under the current draft, the downtown State Street corridor between Gutierrez and Sola streets would be redesigned.

The plan splits those nine blocks into three districts: the entertainment district, the civic and commercial district and the arts district.

State Street sidewalks in those districts would be expanded to 30 feet on both sides, with two 10-foot travel lanes in the center of the street.

The city would also install retractable bollards at each intersection along downtown State Street on the 400 to 1300 blocks. They could be lowered and raised using remotes, which would also allow emergency vehicles through at any time.

This set-up would allow for more flexibility and vehicle access at selected times, city staff have said.

The Santa Barbara City Council reviewed the draft plan in April. The council at that time chose to hold off on a decision regarding vehicle access hours.

Tess Harris, the city’s State Street master planner, said the plan would allow future parades, but certain parades — like the Fiesta Historical Parade — might not be accommodated.

During discussions with members of the media last month about the proposal, Harris explained that allowing horses in that space can cause safety issues.

Commissioner Brian Barnwell was disappointed by this, noting that the first Fiesta parade was started by business owners trying to attract tourists.

He said that the parade “has a huge effect on the net income stream of all those businesses along State Street who used to take the patrons of the parade and fill up with them coming to have a drink or have a bite to eat.”

“Now we’re saying that that very parade itself will not be able to go down the boulevard,” Barnwell said.

The commission this week was also asked to comment on policy ideas to create 1,000-2,000 new housing units downtown. 

Barnwell said in order to incorporate housing, there needs to be a larger discussion around livability.

“There no seating, and it’s unfortunate that the city benches and park benches were pulled out for the sole reason that homeless people slept on them, to the detriment of every other citizen who wanted to sit or had children,” Barnwell said. “That type of thinking needs to go into what we’re going to do down there.”

Commissioner Devon Wardlow emphasized the need to streamline permitting to make a dependable timeline for housing developers.

“We all understand that time costs more money, and then these projects don’t happen,” Wardlow said. “How many projects we’ve reviewed that don’t actually come to fruition is something that I’m acutely aware of, and I think we need to really do everything we can from a streamlining permitting perspective for the downtown area to facilitate this in a better way.”

She also said the city needs to do everything legally possible to make sure any new housing goes to locals.

Other commission members said the city should look at developing housing on underutilized city-owned properties downtown.

Wardlow also advocated for some kind of venue space for concerts and places geared toward children.

“Looking at playgrounds and safe spaces for kids to be kids to be incorporated into this would be something I’d really like to see,” Wardlow said. “As well as some type of homage and ability to do events like music events outside. That’s something that I hear a lot in the community.”

A few commissioners asked about how De La Guerra Plaza — located next to Santa Barbara City Hall and the former Santa Barbara News-Press building — fits into the State Street Master Plan.

Harris said plans for the plaza are on hold until the master plan is finalized.

Commissioner Lesley Wiscomb said she’d like to see the plaza incorporated into the master plan. 

“That’s a very important civic space here and I think that needs attention,” Wiscomb said.

Current estimates put the total cost of the State Street Project between $48 million and $68 million, or $6 million to $8 million a block. Construction could also happen in three phases over the course of 10 years to help mitigate impacts.

Funding could come from various sources, staff have said, including the city’s capital budget, state transportation funds, hotel tax reinvestment, parking revenue, and state and federal grants. 

Staff also suggested expanding the Downtown Santa Barbara Improvement Association property assessment boundaries and negotiating a transient occupancy tax reinvestment agreement to provide funding.

Staff will return to the Santa Barbara City Council in August with additional information and a more detailed funding plan.