The Funk Zone is about to hit the big stage.

The California Coastal Commission will vote on whether to allow a 250-room hotel in Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone during Thursday’s meeting.

The project has already been approved by the Santa Barbara Planning Commission and the City Council, but Keep the Funk and community resident Steve Johnson have filed appeals.

In the latest episode of Santa Barbara Talks with Josh Molina, two members of Keep the Funk, Gareth Kelly and Britany Zajic, talk about why they believe the hotel will hurt the vibe and culture of the Funk Zone. Click on the YouTube link below to watch the podcast.

“People go to the Funk Zone because it is the Funk Zone,” Kelly said. “If we completely gentrify that area then it will just be the Funk Zone in name and not as popular.”

Zajic adds: “The 101 Garden Street hotel as it is designed today is not compatible with Santa Barbara’s coastal plan.”

The owners of the property, the Wright family, received approval in 1983 for a Specific Plan, which allowed for both hotel and housing uses. In 2008, the Wright family proposed 91 residential condominiums, including 20 affordable condos, but they withdrew that project because they said it would not be profitable.

Then, in 2019, a new hotel project by the Wright family went before the Planning Commission and received mostly favorable comments during a concept review.

The project then returned to the Planning Commission in 2023 and was eventually approved in a 4-2 vote earlier this year.

Joshua Molina is journalist who currently writes for Noozhawk and teaches journalism at Santa Barbara City College. He formerly covered politics and land use for the San Jose Mercury News. Santa Barbara Talks is an independently owned podcast where Molina looks to bring together voices from all perspectives to discuss and provide solutions to the challenges related to housing, education, transportation and other community issues. Subscribe to his podcast here and consider a contribution here.