A three-story hotel with 44 rooms and a roof deck is proposed near Santa Barbara’s famed Moreton Bay Fig Tree between Highway 101 and the Amtrak station.

The city’s Historic Landmarks Commission had mostly positive feedback during a conceptual review of the project last week. The site, at 17-21 W. Montecito St., is in an area that is not zoned for housing.

Architect Clay Aurell, a co-founder and partner with AB Design Studios, described the project, which includes an underground, 44-space garage for valet parking.

The proposal calls for the demolition of multiple buildings with deep roots in the community. At 17 W. Montecito St. was Caesar’s Auto Supply, which was founded by the late Caeser Uyesaka in 1948, while 21 W. Montecito St. was the home of a Harley-Davidson shop established in 1934.

Francis Arthur “Art” Mullaney ran the Harley-Davidson dealership until his 1961 death, according to the city’s Historic Resources Report.

The properties are now home to Ducati Santa Barbara.

Most of the Historic Landmarks Commission discussion centered on the roof deck and whether it was necessary for the applicant, Craig Minus of CAM Land Use & Development, to instead put solar panels there. (According to public records, Paul Uyesaka is listed as the owner of the property, but not the applicant).

“It’s right next to the freeway and it is just going to be noisy as heck, and exhaust fumes,” commission Keith Butler observed.

His comments opened the door to a lively exchange among commissioners, who expressed a wide variety of opinions.

“I just don’t think it’s going to be that desirable of a place to hang out,” commissioner Steve Hausz said.

The roof deck might be a place where people have too much fun, suggested commissioner Ed Lenvik.

“We don’t know what’s going on up there,” he said. “They could be holding dances. I just don’t know if that is what we should be accepting as design standards in the El Pueblo Viejo.”

Others pushed for the roof deck to remain.

“I think that roof deck will be very heavily used,” commissioner Dennis Doordan said. “There’s plenty of people in Los Angeles who will come up and sit over a freeway and think that it is great.”

Commissioner Anthony Grumbine then jumped in.

“That’s all there is there” in Los Angeles, he said.

Doordan said guests at the El Prado Inn, now the Courtyard Santa Barbara Downtown at 1601 State St., buy bottles and go up to the roof deck and drink.

Commissioner Michael Drury has his own plans for the roof deck.

“As far as the roof deck goes, I will join anybody for a bottle of wine or whiskey up there,” he said.

The project is only in the concept review phase, so the developers will take the feedback and incorporate it into their design before submitting a formal application.

Some of the other commissioners said the building needed more “poetry,” color, and the roof line needed to be broken up because the structure was a bit subdued.

Commissioner Cass Ensberg said the building needed more “playfulness.”

The commission told Aurell that it wants to see three-dimensional renderings for a better understanding of what people on the roof deck would see.