••• The developers of the Neighborhood at State & Hope, the mixed-use project at the 8.7 acres at at the northeast of La Cumbre Plaza, are gearing up “to go to the Architectural Board of Review in February and Planning Commission in April for preliminary review,” reports Noozhawk. “The city is expecting a formal application sometime this summer.” The project includes 642 apartments (“about 32 of the units are proposed for very low-income households [an] another 24 would be for moderate-income renters”), restaurants, and retail, and it entails demolishing the Macy’s building. Something new since we last saw the plans: a food hall. The development’s website has more info.
••• A depressing article in the Independent details the way developers have been able to use the state’s “builder’s remedy” provision to build housing even if the local government objects. Among the projects in process: 560 apartments at the former Mount Calvary Monastery site on E. Los Olivos Street; a hulking “30-unit Spanish Colonial Revival across two lots on Grand Avenue” in the Lower Riviera; 1,250 units on 64 acres near Highway 217 in Goleta; “a 27-unit development proposed for a vacant lot on Hot Springs Road across from the Santa Barbara Cemetery” (does anyone know where that means?); and more. “Fourteen such projects have been submitted in the county’s unincorporated areas and four in the city as of January 10. All told, that adds up to the possibility of nearly 5,000 units.” UPDATE: The 1 Hot Springs site is below (thanks to the reader who sent it in); it’s 2.4 acres and owned by the cemetery. Seems more like Cabrillo Boulevard or Channel Drive to me….
••• Former professional tennis player Maria Sharapova bought in Montecito for $11.5 million, says Robb Report. Her Summerland property will presumably come on the market at some point. Related: Sharapova recently shared some local favorites with the Financial Times.
••• When Santa Barbara introduced license-plate scanners at public lots, we were told that it was solely to enable touchless payment (which hasn’t worked out particularly well so far), and that the police would need a warrant to access the data. But now the city council has made it so that the SBPD can get access much more easily. —KSBY
••• The late “Leslie Ridley-Tree’s entire collection of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot artworks—which includes 11 paintings, 12 lithographs, and a drawing—goes on display January 11 to March 23 in the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art.” —Montecito Journal
••• “Santa Barbara’s Leadbetter Beach Park has reopened after a 12-week closure while the city replaced the turf, built new barbecues and made other improvements.” —Noozhawk
••• “New 24-Hour Dental Urgent Care Opens in Santa Barbara. […] Dr. [James] Rolfe funds his dental practices through unique means that enable him to live on just $1,000 a month [….] For many years, he has been an urban forager, a sustainable method to get all sustenance for little to no money by dumpster diving, searching for chanterelles among trees, and taking advantage of estate sales. Any profits from his dental practice subsequently go right back into providing accessible care for his Santa Barbara and Afghan patients.” —Independent
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560 units literally right next to the Mission? God, help us. I’m all for redevelopment of places like La Cumbre plaza and much of downtown, but the projects proposed for the Riviera and now right next to the Mission are terrifying.
Boy, that article in the Independent is truly depressing. A law from 1990 ! The units by the Mission are the most offensive…
I hope that the Dracaena dracos (Dragon Trees) at the Monastery site are saved or rescued. These trees probably date back to the original owner and are considered vulnerable to becoming endangered.
Honestly, most of those developments seem like a better use of the land than how they’re currently used. I do agree that it would be preferable if they could be part of an overall development plan, but I’m glad that in the absence of that from the city/county, we’re getting what look to be well-designed projects that’ll add vibrancy to our community. It can’t all be NIMBYism in SB.
I live not far from Macy’s, but was unable to go to the meeting last night. My concerns are the low number of affordable units, parking and traffic mitigation. The affordability part is well-discussed and obvious, but nobody talks about parking. One assigned spot per bedroom is what they need, plus visitors spots. The city hates this because they think people will just ride bikes and take the bus, but I can guarantee anybody who can afford $2750/mo for a one bedroom is gonna have a car. And if the city doesn’t make them put in enough, people will park over by Lure and Islands and customers will be angry. Same with traffic mitigation; that section of State St is already a mess, and this project will generate a lot more car trips than Macy’s ever did.
Just swung by the mall on some errands – there’s literally hundreds of parking spaces in that “pit” by the Macy’s lower level entrance. There was something like four cars parked there on a Saturday afternoon. Not to mention the parking on the Hope Ave side of the mall, which is typically almost as empty, and far far larger than the “pit.” . Literally the only place in that entire mall where there’s any sort of parking “scarcity” (putting that in quotes, because I’ve never not found a spot) is the section around the west side of Macy’s, Lure, Starbucks over to Panda Express etc. If you go anywhere else in that mall, you’d swear it’s abandoned, because of course it half way is. To say nothing of the area on the south side where the Sears used to be. There’s literally thousands of unused parking spaces that are going unused right now.
If you go to their website, and go down to the “Enhanced Parking etc” PDF, you’ll see there’s a planned 845 residential and 105 retail parking spaces planned, looks like the bulk of that is subterranean.
The proposed apartment building behind the mission is an outrage! What is wrong with the county that they could not meet the housing plan deadline to prevent this from happening! They should all be fired. Mission Canyon is a high fire area and a development of this size would make evacuation nearly impossible! Please don’t ruin this historic neighborhood and endanger everyone who lives there!
You are 100 percent correct. It is our local leaders who completely dropped the ball with their failure to adopt a housing element in a timely fashion. The housing element issue arises every eight years. It’s not like a surprise. Builder’s Remedy is only available where local leaders fail to do what they are required to do by state law.
I wonder what are the unidentified areas of this map? Why isn’t parking being planned below the building? Or at the very least along the out edges of the development, preserving an interior a sense of community that aligns with thoughtful urban design.
There’s two levels of subterranean parking across pretty much the entire development – it’s right there on their website, if you scroll down to the PDF’s, it’s the last one. There will be more parking spaces in that area once finished than currently exist – 845 residential spots, and 105 retail spots.
Personally I think the Macys replacement project is a huge improvement over what’s currently there. I’m not a fan of huge (usually empty) parking lots so filling that space with housing is a win. The parking for this development is mostly underground or hidden away so it’s not a barrier to people accessing from State St. It appears to be a development giving priority to people over cars, which I know is revolutionary in SoCal, but it’s gotta happen sometime!
Maybe some people will have the temerity to walk around this new neighborhood? There are many services within a short walk so getting in the car to do everything might not be necessary. As far as traffic on State Street is concerned, I’m a firm believer that one of the measures of a success for a neighborhood is NOT how quickly cars can drive through it.
I hope the Mission project is doomed…..especially given out of control traffic congestion and fire escape on those narrow charming lanes. Not too long ago we also had a water problem….and will again. If our local government…complicit though it maybe… cannot stop this insanity….ask not for whom the bell tolls.
I can’t imagine a more inappropriate location for a large apartment building than next door to the Mission. What’s next, the Rose Garden? Pearl Chase would not approve!
That Independent article isn’t depressing, it’s a description of what happens when city leaders either don’t care or are being willfully ignorant. Santa Barbara has been rotting at its core for a long time and I’m glad some entrepreneurial people spotted the opportunity to build.
COULD NOT AGREE MORE! I love how Nick Welsh is somehow imagining that there could have been a public hearing – what exactly would have happened at this hearing? A bunch of NIMBYS yelling at the city lawyers, telling them how they think the law should work? The only shame here is that it took folks so long to notice this loophole.
Dear posters, I am also in great disgust of the proposed development. It is great to air your thoughts here, but please send an email addressed to those who have an obligation to right the wrong that sluggish action caused.
Write to:
County Board of Supervisors [email protected]
Gregg Hart [email protected]
senator Monique Limón
[email protected]
Gov Newsom — go to State government URL to find an email addy or use the form available on the site
SB City Council
[email protected]
Mayor Rowse,
[email protected]
Thank you!