Clearly showing signs of debate fatigue, five candidates for Santa Barbara City Council took part in a Zoom forum Wednesday night that was hosted by the American Institute of Architects Santa Barbara.
The candidates who appeared were District 4 candidates Kristen Sneddon and Barrett Reed, District 6 candidates Meagan Harmon, Nina Johnson and Zachary Pike, and District 5 Councilman Eric Friedman, who is running unopposed for re-election in the Nov. 2 city election.
They answered a variety of questions related to downtown building heights, affordable housing and the future of State Street.
One of the questions was whether the candidates supported buildings as tall as 60 feet for housing. Currently such a building that tall could only be allowed if the City Council made a designation that the project was a community benefit.
“I don’t believe that market-rate apartments fit the definition of community benefit,” said councilwoman Kristen Sneddon. “A truly, 100 percent, affordable, income-restricted project, then I think could qualify as community benefit.”
Her opponent Reed also opposed 60 feet, and instead pushed an idea for an adaptive re-use ordinance that focuses on building housing within existing buildings, rather than adding new tall buildings to the city.
“I am frequently asked why these large spaces remain vacant, why they aren’t being re-purposed for housing or mixed-use, and like I said, they remain vacant because it requires an adaptive re-use ordinance,” Reed said.
Sneddon is an incumbent and teacher at Santa Barbara City College. Reed owns a development company that specializes in adaptive re-use of buildings. Reed has frequently bashed Sneddon and the existing City Council for what he believes is a lack of leadership, while Sneddon and her supporters have attemper to paint Reed as a wealthy developer.
Forum moderator Brian Johnson, commercial real estate broker with Radius Group, asked the candidates about the city’s average unit-sized density incentive program, which allows developers to build high-density apartment buildings. He noted one project that experienced 14 discretionary review meetings, resulting in a reduction of housing units, before getting approval.
Johnson urged collaboration and “best practices” when evaluating projects.
“Our design community, our housing thought leaders, our design review board members, figuring out what works on small lots, what works on lots, different configurations that work the best to get the largest number of units,” Johnson said.
Harmon was more sharp in her answer.
“I have spoken to so many developers who say the issue is not the existence of a design review process, the issue is the unknowability and unpredictability of that process,” Harmon said. “If you can really put some contours, some concrete contours on what that process would look like, we can plan for it.”
She said the city should put together a pilot project that limits the number of design review meetings that a project must go through as long as they are following the rules. She said such a scenario would not guarantee approval, but force the sides to work together and efficiently.
Pike, another candidate for the District 6 seat, joined the meeting about 45 minutes late. He was the first to answer a question about what he would say to people who oppose new housing.
“I am one of those people,” Pike said. “I don’t want to see newer construction and I don’t want bigger density. I think we are packed. I don’t think Santa Barbara downtown should be responsible for the increasing number of students enrolled at UCSB, the increasing amount of tech people who are coming here.
He compared Santa Barbara to Honolulu, saying it was a transient community and that a lot of people coming in and out. If any new housing is built, he said, it should be for locals.
Reed said he sympathized with those who don’t want new housing construction.
“I grew up surfing here,” Reed said. “All that mattered was clean water and less people. We didn’t want the town to explode in population and honestly I still sort of feel that way. I want to minimize higher density in new construction as much as possible, while still balancing and addressing the important need for affordable housing.”
Sneddon said “we have an affordable housing crisis,” but she is not “for density for density’s sake.”
“I don’t believe in trickle-down economics so I don’t believe in more market-rate, luxury housing,” Sneddon said. “Anything we build has to address our missing middle, workforce needs and also first-time buying opportunities. That ability to invest and gain equity and be able to leverage that in other ways is good for our community.”
Sneddon also said that about one-third of the homes on the Riviera are not primary residences, they are vacant. “They sit vacant. Those are spaces that I believe, we could consider if it is not your primary residence, charging a community benefit fee and that could go back into the community to develop workforce housing. We really need to be looking at what we can be doing in the community to address the workforce affordability and missing middle.”
The election is Nov. 2.
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
