Santa Barbara’s Westside is getting a new medical health clinic, and it’s a bit taller than what the Planning Commission approved nearly a year ago.
The Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics’s Westside clinic received final design approval at the Architectural Board of Review last week, but the designers increased the height by about two feet.
Architect Brian Cearnal, principal of the Cearnal Collective, said the building elevation needed another two feet to accommodate plumbing infrastructure for its dental suites.
“Frankly, we have always known this project was about fitting 10 pounds into a five-pound bag,” Cearnal said.
“We have worked very hard to make sure this is as close to what the Planning Commission approved as possible.”
The ABR approved the project with a 5-0 vote.
The clinic at 621 W. Micheltorena St., near San Andres Street, plans to increase the number of medical and dental patients served to 11,200 annually from 4,502.
The plan is to demolish the existing two-story, 10,454-square-foot clinic and build a three-story, 11,149-square-foot medical, behavioral health and dental clinic.
The new building will reach 46 feet in height, but the tallest part of the building is set back from the street.
The project has 11 on-site parking spaces and another 22 parking spaces at First Presbyterian Church of Santa Barbara, at 21 E. Constance Ave. A shuttle service would bring employees to and from the church lot.
The Westside Clinic is one of several Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics locations providing medical services for families, regardless of their ability to pay.
“We are very excited to continue moving forward with our project here,” said Dr. Mahdi Ashrafian, CEO of the Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics.
Members of the ABR expressed some concern about the building height, and the fact that the windows didn’t increase proportionally.
“Two feet doesn’t feel like it would make much difference, but I think because the window heights didn’t move with it, the proportions didn’t stay the same,” board member Lauren Anderson said.
Still, she said the height increase was “obviously necessary.”
“I think it is a really well-done project,” ABR member David Black said. “It’s nicely done.”
Cearnal said most of the neighborhood is one- and two-story buildings, but that the clinic’s height is necessary to provide all the services.
The clinic has wide support from medical health officials in the community. The increase in patients is expected to help ease wait times for services at Cottage Health and other facilities.
“We understand the reality of having to raise the height of the third floor,” ABR member Richard Six said.
The clinic a year ago sparked an appeal from the owners of a nearby gas station who raised concerns about the parking. In their challenge, the appellants said people would park at the gas station and cross the street to the clinic, which they said has happened often in the past.
The City Council denied the appeal, however, and supported the project.