It is with great sadness that I am reporting that the Santa Barbara City Council recently approved another monster project on Chapala Street by granting the applicant’s appeal for its project at 517 Chapala St. — reversing a decision of the Historic Landmarks Commission.This monster will be adjacent to the three Victorians (501, 505 and 509) on the immediate south that are located within the Brinkerhoff Avenue Landmark District. Other Victorians are located in the other parts of the Brinkerhoff Landmark District that is directly adjacent and to the west of 517 Chapala. In my view and those of others, the council ignored the California Environmental Act (CEQA) by granting this appeal.The approval of this monster on Chapala galvanized a group of us to start the process to adopt a simple, one-sentence Charter amendment that would read as follows: “Buildings in the city are limited to three stories above natural grade and building heights are limited to 38 feet.”This Charter amendment would be consistent with and complement existing Charter Section 1506 (Building heights) and would not repeal any of its limitations, but would lower the maximum heights and establish a limit on the number of stories. Similarly is would not be inconsistent with the Barnwell/Mahan proposal.James O. KahanSanta Barbara