It’s an issue that has divided the community for over six years now.
The debate over keeping Santa Barbara’s downtown State Street closed to vehicles reached the City Council on Tuesday where members voted 5-2 to continue the closure until the city’s State Street Master Plan can be implemented.
Mayor Randy Rowse and Eric Friedman voted against the continued closure, with Rowse arguing the city is feeling the effects of nearly seven summers without parades and vehicle traffic on State Street.
“We’re feeling it,” Rowse said. “And we’re feeling it in the town spirit as well.”
Rowse also revealed that the city was offered $700,000 from a private donor to reconfigure the street, on the condition that it reopens to vehicles.
Councilmember Wendy Santamaria encouraged whoever the potential donor is to partner with the city on funding improved accessibility, supporting businesses, or expanding the shuttle service.
Tuesday’s discussion was brought forward due to Title 31 expiring at the end of the year, which is the city’s code allowing the street closure. The council had to decide if they wanted it to expire, or continue the road closure while city staff work on the State Street Master Plan.
If the city let Title 31 expire, it would mean the end of sidewalk dining, the removal of pedlets, B-Cycle stations relocated to the sidewalk, and the street would have to be repaved. All the changes would cost the city about $700,000.
The removal of sidewalk dining is why councilmember Mike Jordan, who usually votes with the minority in favor of opening the street, voted to renew Title 31. In fact, he said he would vote against anything that took away sidewalk dining.
“If you brought a stranger to Santa Barbara for the first time they would think that it’s been there for a hundred years and it’s the best looking thing ever,” Jordan said. “To lose that would be unconscionable.”
He was in favor of moving forward and finding better solutions for delivery truck access and accessible parking.
The State Street Master Plan takes a hybrid approach, adding wide sidewalks for pedestrians and installing retractable bollards to allow for vehicle access at select times. It’s unclear how the council will rule on vehicle access, since they delayed that decision at the last meeting.
The plan is expected to return to the City Council in August or September for adoption.
On Tuesday, City Hall’s Council Chambers was packed with people divided between groups wearing “Open State Street” stickers and those without.
Bob Stout, owner of the Wildcat Lounge, supports the master plan and said his employees, friends, tourists and locals that he knows all think downtown is better now than it’s been in the last five years.
“Please, please, move forward,” Stout said. “It’s reenergized, and there’s so much good about it. Please don’t kill it.”
Kevin Heim argued that companies like Yardi Systems and housing developers are investing in State Street with the promise of it being pedestrian focused.
“Housing developers are investing in new apartments and entrepreneurs are opening new small businesses because they know people want to live, shop, and dine near a car-free, people-focused State Street,” Heim said. “If we reopen State Street to private cars now, in the gap before the master plan is implemented, we will inject fresh uncertainty and make future employers, merchants, and housing developers hesitant.”
Kathy Romasanta-Eckert, who owns 1 State St., home to the waterfront Jeannine’s Restaurant and Bakery, and a hotel on Cabrillo Boulevard, said tourists aren’t visiting State Street.
“They say it’s dirty, it’s stinky, it’s dangerous,” Romasanta-Eckert said. “From a personal viewpoint, keep it closed, from a Santa Barbaraian, open it up. Get the e-bikes off.”
Colleen Macey, organizer with the State Street Business Alliance, a group of 152 business owners that want the street to reopen, said people are missing the city’s main street.
“We are really missing our main street here in this town,” Macey said. “It’s a really cool street, it was super fun when we moved here to get to hang out down there. We have 55 parks and miles of beaches, we have plenty of places to walk and ride our bikes but we have no main street anymore. We are a city without a main street.”
It was perhaps Robin Elander, executive director of the Downtown Santa Barbara Improvement Association, who said something everyone could agree on: the tug-of-war needs to stop.
“Extending Title 31 or letting it expire is not a plan,” Elander said. “We need a robust management plan forward that serves the entire district including its side streets, parallel adjacent streets, and a hybrid solution that supports safety and vitality throughout downtown.”
Councilmember Kristen Sneddon argued that while the master plan is in development, and businesses are investing in downtown, it’s not the time to go backwards.
“Things are about to really happen,” Sneddon said. “I think we owe it to ourselves to see the full blossom, to let it happen.”
