Group hopes to lower the ceiling in SB

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

A proposed initiative to lower building height limits in Santa Barbara that has spurred community debate came one step closer to earning a spot on November’s ballot on Wednesday.
Proponents of the initiative, a group of community members known as Save El Pueblo Viejo, filed paperwork announcing their intent to circulate a petition at City Hall.

“The character of Santa Barbara is changing,” said former mayor Sheila Lodge, who is backing the initiative. “What we love about Santa Barbara — the views of the mountains and the sea, and its small-town feel — we lose that with these huge buildings.”
Currently, the city charter regulates building heights at 30 feet for family residences, 45 feet for hotels and apartment complexes, and 60 feet for commercial structures. A city ordinance also prohibits building higher than 45 feet in commercial zones, although projects can receive modifications allowing developers to exceed that boundary.
“Those limits seemed sufficient until people were shocked to see buildings going up on Chapala Street that are completely out of keeping in size, bulk and scale for Santa Barbara,” states a press release from Save El Pueblo Viejo.
As a result, the group introduced an initiative amending the height limit to 30 feet for family residences and 45 feet for all other buildings, along with a 40-foot limit in the downtown historic district known as El Pueblo Viejo.
After the city attorney drafts an impartial description and names the initiative, supporters plan to collect more than the 4,200 valid voter signatures required to get the measure on the ballot.
“We think there is [support] and we’ll find out in the next three months,” said Bill Mahan, chairman of Save El Pueblo Viejo and former planning commissioner.
However, the proposed initiative has received mixed reviews from the community. Some groups, such as the League of Women Voters, applauded the effort to stave off oversized buildings in the downtown core.
“The theme of the general plan update this year is living within our resources,” LWV vice president Connie Hannah said. “We feel this height limit will help us achieve that goal. … We’re excited because we think this can really put a lid on all these huge developments.”
Others, in contrast, are worried that the proposal will have negative consequences, particularly an unintended impact on the ability to build affordable housing projects in a city already suffering from a major housing crunch.
“There should be fewer big buildings,” Councilmember Das Williams said. “But I think this is the wrong solution. … The biggest unintended consequence is it will kill the provision of middle-income housing in downtown.”
Calls to the Coastal Housing Coalition and the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects, which have both spoken out in the past against similar suggestions to limit building heights, were not returned.
Councilmember Helene Schneider offered tempered criticism of the initiative, suggesting that the issue of height limits is best left to the general plan update process.
“I’m not trying to thwart the democratic process,” she said. “I just want to be sure people make an informed decision.”
In addition, regulating building heights won’t alter what she views as one of the major issues in Santa Barbara, bloated unit sizes.
“You can still have a 2,500 square-foot luxury condo,” Schneider said.
Former councilman Brian Barnwell, who is backing the height limit proposal, explained that ballot initiatives must address a single issue. He also acknowledged that height limits aren’t the only issue when it comes to development in the city.
“It’s not just tall buildings,” he said. “It’s also setbacks. It’s how the building fits into the character of the surrounding neighborhood.”
However, he believes setting a citywide height limit of at least 45 feet will not only help preserve sweeping views of the mountain range and shoreline, but will serve as a wakeup call for current city leaders who he described as unreceptive when he attempted to bring the issue up during his term on the City Council.
“Once it passes, I think it will be a slap in the face of city government,” Barnwell said.
Williams, while urging the public not to sign the ballot petition, said he is just as concerned about overdevelopment as members of Save El Pueblo Viejo.
“Our ordinance committee is scheduled to address it on the 29th of January,” he said. “[The initiative] is totally circumventing the city’s opportunity to address this issue. … What we need to do is have ordinances that balance the need to minimize size, bulk and scale with the need to provide middle-income, affordable housing downtown.”
Rob Pearson, executive director of the Housing Authority of Santa Barbara, said he attended a public forum held recently by Save El Pueblo Viejo on the issue of height limits and the proposed initiative.
“I had concerns,” he said. “Whenever you are limiting something and it’s a hard-and-fast rule, I get a little worried.”
Despite his initial misgivings, Pearson said he isn’t opposed to the idea of a lower height limit. Although he would prefer the initiative set a simple 45-foot limit, rather than adding a 40-foot limit in El Pueblo Viejo, he said most of the projects built by the Housing Authority are under that limit anyway.
“I don’t think it will have much of an impact on us, one way or the other,” Pearson said.
Although the city has regulated building heights through ordinances for many years, the issue didn’t enter into the city’s charter until 1972, when the city approved plans to build two 9-story condo developments at what is now Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens.
“At which point the citizens erupted,” Barnwell said, and approved the current height limits in a landslide.
If Save El Pueblo Viejo receives the requisite number of petition signatures, the ballot measure will need to receive a simple majority to pass. Supporters said they expect to start circulating petitions in early February in both English and Spanish, and will launch a website, www.saveelpuebloviejo.org, with more information in the next few days.