Anonymous
By an edhat reader
Week of March 27-30, 2023: Advisory Commission meetings of Santa Barbara City
A long-time Edhat subscriber, hoping for more public participation in our local government, thought it would be helpful and interesting for the community to have a weekly listing of selected meetings, those of city-wide interest. We agreed. Please tell us what you think. There have been requests for coverage of other jurisdictions; volunteers to do that, please contact info@edhat.com. If we’ve mis-posted an address or there’s a meeting that we failed to list, please note the correction in the Comments section below. Thanks!
Santa Barbara has a City Calendar of meetings; for March. (NB: City Calendar is a guide to many public meetings.) City TV covers many of the meetings and has reruns. However, Consent Calendar meetings are not televised. Our new city website design is a mixed blessing, prettier-looking but with some information harder to find if it exists at all. For instance, we failed to list last week’s Council Sustainability Committee meeting on 3/20. Held in Room 15 of the City Council Chambers, the meeting is no longer televised, with council members apparently assuming the interested public would check the Council web page and attend in person.
Common acronyms, abbreviations: hybrid or Hyflex, meeting access is both in person and via Zoom or other webinar; PDA, Project Design Approval; FA, Final Approval; CAR, Council Agenda Report. Agenda item descriptions are generally direct quotes from the agendas. Meeting locations: City Council chambers upstairs at City Hall, 735 Anacapa Street; David Gebhard Room (DGR), 630 Garden Street; or where noted. Noted also for some Council and Advisory Committee meetings are non-public addresses; these are addresses for those public servants who choose to attend the meetings at home or elsewhere.
A quiet week for meetings, with the Council on holiday; the Single Family Design Board, the Architectural Board of Review and the Historic Landmarks Commission all have meetings. See City TV, for a full run of previous meetings.
MONDAY, 3/27
Single Family Design Board, 11:00 A.M., DGR, in person: Consent Agenda: cancelled, with the next meeting tentatively scheduled for 4/3. ….NB: The SFDB is down to 3 members; there’s a special recruitment notice here. Applications here, deadline: Monday, April 3. Past agendas, architectural drawings and public comments from prior meetings, link.
Architectural Board of Review, 1 P.M., DGR, in person, Consent Calendar agenda:
- A. New Item, Concept Review: 1187 COAST VILLAGE RD, Ca Dario Restaurant: Proposal for the installation of two prefabricated ‘Structure’ patio cover systems, comprised of trellises with columns and retractable solar shades & motor, to be installed at the existing patios along Coast Village Road. … A Zoning Modification is Architectural Board of Review Consent Agenda March 27, 2023 Page 3 of 3 requested to grant relief from the front setback requirements regarding location of the patio cover systems and the new signage. No final appealable action will take place at this meeting. Project Compatibility Findings will be required for a Project Design Approval. Architectural drawings and public comment (68 comments listed.) link
- B. New Item, PDA & FA: 718 N VOLUNTARIO St: replacing windows and door with no change to size and location. Project requires compliance with the Project Compatibility Guidelines.
Single Family Design Board, regular meeting, 3 P.M., hyflex, DGR, Agenda:
- 1. Cont. Item, last reviewed as Consent, on 3/6/2023; Concept Review: 1244 SHORELINE DRIVE …Applicant: Clay Aurell, AB Design Studio: Proposal for a 290-square-foot ground floor addition, a 240-square-foot second floor addition to be a new Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU), and a 173-square-foot garage addition associated with an existing 1,116-square-foot, single-story, single-unit, residence with a 245-square-foot non-conforming garage. … Project requires approval from the Staff Hearing Officer for a Front Setback Modification to allow the new garage to encroach into the front setback and a Coastal Development Permit to allow the proposed ADU in the Appealable Jurisdiction of the Coastal Zone. … No final appealable decision will take place at this hearing. Neighborhood Preservation Findings will be required when the project is reviewed for Project Design Approval.
- 2. New item, Concept Review: 3855 CALLE CITA, Owner: Missionary Church of Santa Barbara Designer: Roland Fournier, Fournier Design Studio Applicant: John Mullen, Franciscan Real Estate (Proposal to construct a new 2,376-square-foot two-story residence with a 432-square-foot garage on a 10,000-square-foot vacant lot with an existing creek/drainage area…. No final appealable decision will take place at this hearing. Neighborhood Preservation Findings will be required when the project is reviewed for Project Design Approval.
- 3. New item, Concept Review: 3635 SANTA MARIA LANE: Proposal to demolish the existing 1,191 square foot single-story single-unit residence and construct a new 2,021 square foot single-story single-unit residence and a new 430 square foot attached garage. An existing permitted 375 square foot Accessory Dwelling Unit will remain. …No final appealable decision will take place at this hearing. Neighborhood Preservation Findings will be required when the project is reviewed for Project Design Approval.
Architectural drawings and also public comment re: 1244 Shoreline: “…The lack of street parking and just general neighborhood character has been reduced by quite a lot due to all the construction and lack of neighborly respect from the current owners of these projects in terms of making such requests of their contractors. …” link.
TUESDAY, 3/28
City Council: Regular meeting, 2:00 p.m., Council Chambers, Hyflex, 2 P.M. Council holiday for this Tuesday and next Tuesday, 4/4; see schedule below of Council holidays.
WEDNESDAY, 3/29
Historic Landmarks Commission, 11 a.m., in person, DGR, Consent Calendar Agenda:
- A. 620 SIERRA STREET: New Item, PDA & FA: (Listed on the Historic Resources Inventory, constructed in 1927 in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. Project adjacent to 618 Sierra St, a historic Structure of Merit. Proposal to convert an existing 81 square foot second floor porch to livable space. Project includes new roofing with new parapet wall above. No change to the building footprint is proposed as part of this project. … Project Compatibility Findings and Minor Alterations Findings are required. Historic Significance Report* *Available for view online at SantaBarbaraCA.gov/HLC Historic Landmarks Commission Consent Agenda March 29, 2023 Page 3 of 3
- B. 1120 ALAMEDA PADRE SERRA, Cont. item, PDA & FA: …(Listed on the Historic Resources Inventory, constructed in 1937 in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. Proposal to replace an existing 437-square-foot concrete driveway and apron with a new 538-squarefoot circular drive with permeable pavers and concrete apron. The project also includes a new arbor and gate, garden walls, and hardscape steps with handrailProject Compatibility Findings are required. Project was last reviewed on March 1, 2023.
Architectural Drawings, staff reports/Historic Significance reports, and a public comment re Mission Creek bridge: link.
Historic Landmarks Commission, 1:30 p.m., regular meeting, hyflex, DGR, Agenda:
- 1. 1529 STATE ST, One-Time Pre-application Consultation… Part I. Proposal to demolish existing structures and construct a new mixed-use development containing 6,400 square feet of commercial space and 27 residential rental units on the 18,879 square foot site. The project is proposed under the AUD; and Planning Commission Concept Review is required per SBMC§30.150.060.) No final appealable action will take place at this meeting. Project Compatibility Findings will be required for Project Design Approval.
- 2. OAK PARK, 638 W JUNIPERO ST, Postponed item, new item: …Owner: City of Santa Barbara: Proposal to restore a 1,800 linear foot reach of Mission Creek. Project includes hardscape improvements and planting of over 5,000 native riparian trees, shrubs, and herbs. The Creeks Division is seeking CEQA review for the creek restoration activities.) PLEASE NOTE: Item 2 is postponed two weeks to a date certain of April 12, 2023 at the applicant’s request.
- 3. BROWN ACT TRAINING: Staff: Tava Ostrenger, Assistant City Attorney (Brown Act training for Historic Landmarks Commission Members and City Staff by a Santa Barbara City Attorney’s Office representative.) This is listed as a Discussion Item; as of Sunday evening, there is no Staff Report available of what, specifically, will be discussed.
- 4. 623 1/2 STATE St. New Item, PDA & FA: Part I. The project is between the Fithian Building, a historic Structure of Merit, and the Peirce Block building, listed on the Historic Resources Inventory. Proposal to demolish the façade of an existing 2,184 square foot commercial building to construct a new façade. Project includes 49 square feet of concrete paving to be replaced with brick pavers. No change in existing floor area is proposed as part of this project.) Project was last reviewed on a One-Time Pre-Application Consultation before the Full Commission on February 15, 2023.
Architectural Drawings, staff reports/Historic Significance reports, and a public comment re Mission Creek bridge: link.
THURSDAY, 3/30
Planning Commission, 1 P. M., City Council Chambers, hyflex, Agenda: A meeting is listed on the Calendar but, as of Sunday night, not listed under the Planning Commission whose usual schedule is the first, second, and third Thursdays. Should there be a meeting, we’ll post here the agenda.
FRIDAY, 3/31
All day
CLOSED – City Administrative Offices
All day
Cesar Chavez Day – Holiday Observed
Of general interest:
City Advisory Commissions are listed with their duties and powers described in the Charter of the City of Santa Barbara, See: Article Vlll, Appointive Boards and Commissions, pg; 25 et seg. Other commissions may be formed by the City Council for certain issues of public concern. Santa Barbara Municipal Code. The City Council meets at 2 p.m., Tuesdays, except for these holidays: January 3, January 17, February 21, March 28, April 4, May 30, June 20, July 4, July 11, August 8, August 15, September 5, November 14, November 21, November 28, December 19, and December 26, 2023. The regular Council meetings are sometimes preceded by their Finance and Ordinance committees whose agendas are part of the regular council meeting agenda; the Council also has a Legislative Committee and a Sustainability Committee, each of which meets irregularly.
AIA-Santa Barbara, August 2020, State Street Promenade and housing community survey results, more than 4,800 responses, linked here. Civic groups concerned about city government: Allied Neighborhoods Association, Citizens Planning Association, League of Women Voters -Santa Barbara, and various hyperlocal neighborhood associations.
City of Santa Barbara says it emphasizes transparency: https://santabarbaraca.gov/government-transparency. Listed under city transparency is a link to the Ralph M. Brown Act (“Brown Act“), “In enacting this chapter, the Legislature finds and declares that the public commissions, boards and councils and the other public agencies in this State exist to aid in the conduct of the people’s business. It is the intent of the law that their actions be taken openly and that their deliberations be conducted openly.”
