This June Santa Barbara voters will decide on a ballot measure that would allow the city to change the way it manages contracts and leases for city-owned property.
If approved, the city’s charter would be updated to allow for leases of city property for more than 50 years, which is the current limit, and would allow the city to make changes to contracts without going through the ordinance process.
The Santa Barbara City Council unanimously approved placing the issue on the June ballot on Tuesday, along with the $195,000 from the city’s general fund reserves for the costs associated with adding the charter amendment to the June statewide primary election ballot.
Tuesday’s vote came after the council directed staff to research a proposed ballot measure that would extend the length of a lease of city-owned land beyond 50 years in December.
“I’m in complete support of this,” Councilmember Kristen Sneddon said.
The council directed staff to look into the measure after a heated conversation with the development team behind the plan to redevelop the Paseo Nuevo mall.
“Not being on the ad hoc committee with Paseo Nuevo, I see this as a real bargaining piece about whether we truly are in the situation where we have to give land away for something to happen or not, and I think the sooner that question is resolved the better,” Sneddon said.
The ability to have a contract for longer than 50 years was a major issue for AB Commercial, the Paseo Nuevo redevelopment team.
Placing the charter amendment on the June ballot will cost the city $130,000 more than if they just placed it on the November ballot.
Mayor Randy Rowse has some concerns about the extra costs and was worried that voters would think it’s a guarantee for the Paseo Nuevo deal or other potential projects.
“I don’t want people to think because we’re doing this, that’s what it’s all about, because that’s a bit of a stretch,” Rowse said.
City Administrator Kelly McAdoo said it’s an overall “better governance practice” and gives the city more flexibility, not just for the Paseo Nuevo deal.
“My concern with Paseo Nuevo is that if we waited until the November election, if the council or the ad hoc committee wanted to even have a conversation about the potential of a ground lease, then any negotiations around that would have to happen after November,” McAdoo said.
If approved, the city could enter leases for as long as 99 years and could make changes to leases of city-owned property that are longer than five years without having to go through an ordinance process.
Because adopting an ordinance typically takes 40 days before it goes into effect, McAdoo said that causes delays when the city works with businesses that want to open quickly.
Voters will see the charter amendment on the primary election ballot on June 2.