Santa Barbara is making major waterfront and harbor preparations to defend the area from the potential devastation of winter storms.
“I don’t think we can ever be prepared enough because we have limited resources and with sea-level rise,” Brian Adair, the city’s waterfront facilities manager, told Noozhawk.
“It depends on the height of the swells, the direction they are coming in. We are at nature’s mercy.”
Leadbetter Beach lost a lot of sand during last year’s winter storms and it has not all come back yet.
The Waterfront Department has built sand berms near Leadbetter Beach to protect the Santa Barbara Yacht Club and nearby restaurants and commercial buildings. The berms extend from the breakwater toward the Harbor West parking lot.
Crews were busy all last week creating the six-foot-tall sand berms.
The Santa Barbara Waterfront Department has been constructing sand berms to protect area buildings, businesses and parking lots from the destructive storms and tides. (Joshua Molina / Noozhawk photo) 
An open bowl scraper contractor works on building up a berm protecting the Santa Barbara Yacht Club in advance of the weekend’s storms. No damage was reported but the winter storm season is just getting started. (Dennis Houghton photo) 
Six-foot sand berms have been constructed on the beach from the Santa Barbara Yacht Club in the distance and west toward Leadbetter Beach. (Joshua Molina / Noozhawk photo)
Big waves have historically resulted in flooding of Harbor Way and the harbor commercial area, harbor officials said.
Mike Wiltshire, harbor operations manager, said he has concerns about flooding.
He said “the critical areas right now” are near the Harbor West parking lot area.
“I think we need to be very prepared this year to have temporary closures of the Harbor West parking lot, at least the beachfront parking sites,” Wiltshire said.
“Inevitably we are going to see a combination of a high tide and a little bit more of a significant swell.”
Last winter’s storms washed out much of the sand around the Yacht Club, damaging some of the building’s infrastructure and leaving the club’s parking lot in ruins.
Waterfront maintenance staff partnered with Castagnola Tug Service to remove 55 swim
buoys along Leadbetter Beach, the Sand Spit, West Beach and East Beach, and five
seasonal anchorage buoys near Stearns Wharf.
“Traditionally we move them because the storm can bury them, break them, lose them and displace them,” Adair said. “As a practice we take them out during the winter season.”
Anchor Rose Gets Rent Deferral
The Santa Barbara Harbor Commission has agreed to defer rent for the Anchor Rose Restaurant & Lounge for three months while renovations are made to its building at 118 Harbor Way.
The Anchor Rose, occupying Suite 180, replaced Chomp on the Rocks, which had replaced Endless Summer Café.
The renovations include changes that will modernize the space with an “ocean-minded
feel to enhance the overall customer experience,” according to the Waterfront Department.
The entire interior will be redesigned, including the lounge area, bar, and improvements related to the American Disabilities Act.
“These updates are expected to significantly improve the Lounge’s service
capacity, aesthetic appeal and operational efficiency,” the department said.
Anchor Rose plans to be closed from December to February during the renovations.
The base rent due during that period will be amortized starting in March and continuing through the end of the lease in 2025.
“This arrangement will provide the tenant with financial relief during the end stages of the construction period while ensuring that the Waterfront Department recovers the full rent amount over the remaining lease term,” the department said.