The State Street Business Alliance is made up of business owners and members of the Santa Barbara community. We write to respectfully ask that the mayor and City Council carefully review the following comments supporting the reopening of State Street.
Our opinions are not outdated or isolated complaints. They are current comments within the last month from those of us who have experienced the consequences of the “temporary” closure firsthand — a closure that has extended now for six years.
It is time to reopen State Street.
State Street was closed under extraordinary circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses and residents accepted this because we understood the need to respond quickly to an unprecedented crisis.
However, six years later, the emergency is over, yet the temporary conditions imposed during that period continue to dictate the future of our city’s Main Street.
Title 31 was implemented and intended to provide temporary flexibility during the emergency by suspending normal processes and procedures specifically eliminating Historic Landmarks Commission design review and other regulatory requirements.
Instead of returning State Street to its pre-pandemic condition and then evaluating long-term options, the City of Santa Barbara has effectively implemented a temporary emergency closure as the starting point for a permanent transformation.
In doing so, the burden of proof has been reversed. Those who wish to restore State Street to its historic and functional condition are now being asked to justify reopening it, when reopening should have been the default once the emergency ended.
Extraordinary powers are meant to address extraordinary circumstances. They were never intended to indefinitely determine the future of Santa Barbara’s Main Street.
Instead of economic renewal, many local businesses have struggled to survive, relocated or closed their doors altogether.
Storefront vacancies remain visible, accessibility has been reduced, and countless visitors and residents have stopped visiting downtown entirely.
The concerns we continue to hear from all age groups reflect a growing and widespread sentiment throughout Santa Barbara that the prolonged closure has created unintended consequences that are harming the vitality, accessibility and economic health of our downtown district.
What was initiated as a temporary closure has evolved into a long-term expensive experiment.
It is critical that community leaders honestly recognize the negative impacts of the closure and listen to the voices of everyone, especially those who are and have been most affected.
State Street is a critical transportation corridor and one of the most important circulation routes in Santa Barbara.
As a public right-of-way, it is required to accommodate residents, businesses, employees, visitors, emergency services, deliveries, individuals with mobility needs, etc.
Any long-term decisions regarding State Street must recognize its essential role in moving people and goods throughout the city.
While it can support recreational and community activities, its primary function is to serve as a vital transportation artery that provides safe, efficient and accessible passage for all.
Local businesses depend on visibility, convenience and customer traffic to survive. When access is challenging, customers choose other destinations.
Every empty storefront, every struggling business and every lost job weakens the economic vitality of Santa Barbara.
Small businesses are the backbone of our community, and they deserve a City Council that prioritizes their success and listens to their concerns.
State Street belongs to everyone and must be welcoming to all, regardless of age or transportation preferences.
It should be accessible to people with disabilities who need convenient drop-off locations and nearby parking.
It must work for families with children, visitors exploring our city, residents running errands, employees commuting to work, cyclists, pedestrians and business owners alike.
Golf carts are not a substitute for true accessibility. They do not meet the real needs of seniors, people with disabilities, families, workers, visitors or customers who rely on dependable transportation, convenient drop-off areas, accessible parking and clear routes to reach downtown businesses.
The current circulation pattern is confusing, strangled and unnecessarily convoluted without our main street functioning as a main street.
Drivers are forced to circle surrounding blocks, burn more fuel, spend more time searching for access, and navigate frustrating detours just to reach businesses that should be easy to visit.
This does not reduce emissions. It simply moves traffic onto neighboring streets and creates more idling, more congestion, more confusion and more frustration.
Cars moving slowly and predictably at 20 mph on State Street were a safer and more functional option than the current environment, in which unregulated e-bikes, scooters, delivery vehicles, pedestrians and service vehicles compete for space in a corridor with unclear rules and inconsistent enforcement.
Many residents no longer feel comfortable or safe on State Street. What was intended to become a vibrant pedestrian experience has too often become a nuisance, drawing behavior that contributes to vagrancy, disorder and a reduced sense of safety.
When downtown feels unsafe or neglected, residents and visitors stop coming. When people stop coming, businesses suffer, vacancies grow, and the entire community loses a vibrant and healthy economy.
Many residents who once frequented downtown no longer do, resulting in reduced sales and difficulty attracting new investment.
Commercial real estate brokers and retailers consistently evaluate traffic counts, visibility, access and convenience when deciding where to invest.
When downtown Santa Barbara is removed from consideration because it lacks those fundamentals, the entire community loses opportunities, and the city loses vital revenue.
The City Council’s responsibility is to serve the entire community and to ensure that Santa Barbara remains safe, accessible, economically healthy and attractive.
Strong infrastructure, sound planning, economic vitality, public safety and accessibility are fundamental responsibilities of local government.
Decisions regarding State Street must be evaluated through those lenses to ensure balance and that the requirements are met.
A healthy downtown is not measured by ideology. It is measured by whether businesses are thriving, whether residents feel safe and welcome, whether visitors return, and whether all members of the community can easily access and enjoy the city center.
State Street’s beauty, charm and historic character were not created by closing it to traffic. Those qualities existed for generations and helped establish Santa Barbara as the American Riviera and one of the most admired communities in the world.
Many residents question why so much time, effort and public resources continue to be devoted to reinventing a place that was already exceptional and widely beloved.
The evidence is clear that many residents believe the current model is not meeting those objectives. What was implemented as a temporary measure has now remained in place for six long years — well past “temporary.”
State Street was not broken before it was closed. The closure created many of the challenges we face today.
It doesn’t need to be fixed or reenvisioned, it just needs to be reopened as the flexible street it was for decades. People want their traditional State Street back.
Repeal Title 31 and reopen State Street. Restore pre-COVID function and Historic Landmarks Commission authority over our historic district.
Support local businesses and the financial health that comes from each successful business. Bring life back to the heart of Santa Barbara.
Click here to sign the State Street Business Alliance petition to Open State Street. Click here for more information about the State Street Business Alliance.
Voices from the Business Community
“Our visitation has decreased by 40% on average over the past six years. The foot traffic in
our plaza has been a mere trickle of what the flow was before the closure. The numbers do
not lie. Sales tax down, visitation down/flat. Closing the street to vehicular access has solely robbed visitation to create a visible appearance of increased vitality. Robbing Peter to pay Paul does not create a successful downtown core. Restoring vehicular access to State Street is necessary to restore the equity and sustainability our downtown business district needs to survive.”
— Patrick Casey, downtown plaza business owner
“The six-year closure has damaged our walk-in business, decreased the value of our
property by approximately 40%, and hampered our ability to hire new staff. Our company
maintains a second office in Montecito because many of our clients don’t want to venture
downtown — an additional cost of close to $85,000 annually.”
— David de L’Arbre, business and property owner, 79 years on State Street
“I have owned Lewis & Clark for nearly 45 years. Visibility, access and ease of movement
are CRUCIAL to success for any small business. Other parts of the city — the Funk Zone,
the Presidio Neighborhood and Coast Village Road, all with vehicular traffic — have had
resurgences since COVID. The closure has been continuously fought for by politicians and
bike activists who refuse to cite any data or evidence that it has been a success for the entire community.”
— Lisa Reifel, Lewis & Clark, 45 years on State Street
“As a commercial real estate broker, I speak with regional and national retail companies
looking for new sites, and they cross lower State Street off of the list because of the lack of car traffic. One metric they specifically look for is the number of daily traffic trips that cross the closest large intersections to the prospective site. Traffic = visibility = business.”
— Rob Adams, Hayes Commercial Group
“I am the president of the La Arcada Investment Corporation and La Arcada Plaza, our
family property. I have been downtown for 29 years and have seen the demise of State
Street in terms of vacancies, lack of accessibility, homelessness, increasing violence and
dangerous pedestrian walkways due to speeding bikes. Visitors huddle at the beachfront and are unaware of the beauty of upper State Street because they are unable to travel in trolleys as they used to be able to do. Stores, restaurants and courtyards are barely visible because of the brush along the street. The closure of State Street was without thought, plan or intelligence.”
— Lynne Tahmisian, president, La Arcada Investment Corporation, 29 years downtown
“We own a business on State Street and have seen the street suffer and alienate our locals.
Our business is down 30% from pre-closure. It is documented and proven that pedestrian
malls longer than three blocks have an 89% failure rate.”
— Monte Wilson, State Street business owner
“Sales have been consistently flat the last few years. Please, City Council, speak with the real stakeholders of the State Street Master Plan: the local business owners! We are on State Street every day and we see real data about how the lack of circulation has affected our local economy.”
— Gillian Muralles, Lilac Pâtisserie
“By cutting off the upper blocks of State Street to tourists entering from the ocean or Funk Zone, this closure has created a hostile environment for many small businesses and stymied further economic growth. It is unacceptable for city leaders to continue to prioritize restaurateurs with parklets at the expense of everyone else.”
— Meriwether Clarke, Lewis & Clark, 45 years on State Street
“I moved my business from two decades at 318 State St. because of the decline of Lower State. My clients who have been here before all comment on the sad state of the closed street — that Santa Barbara is not the lovely place they remember. I have changed my tourism recommendations for my clients to guide them away from downtown. Lower State Street is a disappointment to tourists who come expecting a world-class destination.”
— Pat Fish, State Street business owner since 1975
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