Clipboards and pens in hand, groups looking to challenge two of the Santa Barbara City Council’s biggest decisions this year have hit the streets.

Signature gatherers outside grocery stores have been asking residents to support petitions challenging the State Street Master Plan and rent control ordinance. If both petitions are separately certified with enough signatures, the City Council must either repeal its related ordinances or send them to the ballot box.

A referendum petition backed by the Committee to Reopen State Street targets the City Council’s 6-1 approval of the State Street Master Plan and asks the city to put the issue of whether to open State Street to cars to a public vote. 

The petition has hit more than 6,000 signatures and has been submitted to the city clerk for review, committee spokesperson John Davies announced on Wednesday. Organizers needed 5,400 signatures.

Now, the clerk will verify the signatures to ensure they’re valid. 

The petition and the committee are heavily backed by Jim Knell, the president of SIMA, a private real estate firm. Knell said in a press release that he is “confident” the petition will qualify for the November 2028 ballot. 

“Santa Barbara voters are tired of the mess on State Street,” Knell said.

The city of Santa Barbara closed State Street to cars during the COVID-19 pandemic to allow restaurants to expand to outdoor dining.  

Since then, the City Council has wrestled over the future of State Street.

Opponents of the closure have argued that prohibiting vehicles has harmed downtown businesses and allowed dangerous e-bike activity to flourish.

Quarterly Radius reports show there were about 25-30 vacant storefronts on downtown State Street in the years before the pandemic hit. The vacancies were “relatively consistent” in the years following 2020, when the city closed the street to vehicles, with 33-40 vacant retail storefronts.

That first quarter 2026 Radius report showed that vacancies have returned to pre-pandemic levels, with 30 spaces available for lease between Sola and Gutierrez streets. 

Supporters of the State Street promenade have said the space creates a sense of community and makes the corridor safer for pedestrians. Restaurants and bars have created more permanent parklet dining areas in the street.

The State Street Master Plan envisions a redesign of the 300 to 1300 blocks. It includes expanded 30-foot-wide sidewalks on both sides and two 10-foot travel lanes in the center of the street. 

Retractable bollards at intersections could allow for cars at certain hours, including delivery vehicles. And the street could be completely closed to vehicles for events at other times.

The group circulating the petition over State Street supports a “shared-use State Street” with “low-speed” vehicles, parking and deliveries, wide sidewalks and outdoor dining, according to a press release sent out Wednesday.

The committee does support retractable bollards, but they say those could be used to close off the street for events and emergencies, instead of allowing cars only at specific times.

They also want the street open to vehicles sooner rather than later, and argue that the city’s State Street Master Plan lacks guaranteed funding. 

As of September, the city has estimated the project to cost $9 million per block. It could take six years to get it done at a current price tag of $96 million. The city is pursuing grants but has not developed a funding plan for the work as of October.

Santa Barbara Rent Control Petition

A second referendum petition — this one tackling the hotly debated rent control — is also making the rounds. 

The one is backed by the Santa Barbara Rental Property Association. The group has been a vocal opponent of rent control and sued the city in April over the temporary rent control ordinance, which is set to expire Dec. 31. 

The groups want to put the rent control decision in the voters’ hands by repealing the City Council’s recent approval of a rent stabilization ordinance.

Petitioners were still collecting signatures as of Thursday.

Committee spokesperson Laura Teutschel couldn’t provide exact numbers, but she told Noozhawk on Thursday that “a couple thousand” signatures have been collected so far. 

“We’re doing well,” she said. 

She added the groups will “cross the bridge when we come to it” about whether to call for a special election or request the issue go on the November 2028 ballot, if they do get enough signatures.

The City Council’s ordinance limits how much landlords can raise rents, creates a rental property registry and forms a seven-person rent-stabilization board that will oversee the program. 

Effective Jan. 1, rent increases are limited to once within a 12-month period at a maximum of 3% or 60% of the rise of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) — whichever is lower. The city has a rent freeze, with no increases allowed, currently in effect while the council reviewed the longer-term rent stabilization ordinance.

As a comparison, state rules limit yearly rent increases to 5% plus the cost of living increase, with a maximum of 10%. In Santa Barbara County, the maximum yearly rent increase allowed under the state rule is 8.6%.

The city limits on rent increases do not apply to units constructed after Feb. 1, 1995, government-owned and operated units, privately owned single-family homes, condos and townhomes and mobile home parks. 

The city started recruitment for the rent stabilization board, which must have four tenant members and one member more than 65 years old. The deadline to apply is Dec. 2 at 5 p.m. The city will make appointments to that board on Dec. 15 after applicant interviews. 

Rent control supporters have said it is much needed in an area where some work multiple jobs to keep up with the rising cost of rent.

Housing data from the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments last year found that half of all renters across the county spend more than 30% of their income on housing and a quarter spend more than 50% of their income on housing. 

But opponents have said the new ordinance will cost the city too much and hurt landlords. 

A dashboard built by Radius Commercial Real Estate found that owner operating costs in Santa Barbara went up 48.4% between 2016 and 2026, while the rent-control formula as presented would have capped rents at a 21.6% increase over that same time frame. 

By early estimates, running the rental registry program will cost the city at least $2 million per year. The City Council will hear a fee study later this year about the exact costs, which are expected to rise. 

The groups behind the petition have scheduled a referendum town hall next week at Uptown Lounge.