Anonymous
By the edhat staff
Week of 12/12 – 12/16: Santa Barbara City Council and advisory committee meetings
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. (NB: The City Calendar is a guide to many meetings and events but is not always accurate in its civic-interest meeting listings; for instance, this month, the Arts Advisory is listed for its regular meeting but there’s not even a cancellation on its agenda page.) City TV is valuable, covering many of the meetings and has reruns and updates with newly-scheduled meetings. Some meetings, Consent Calendars and Downtown Parking Committee, as examples, are not televised even though they are held in the David Gebhard Public Meeting Room that is wired for TV.
Common acronyms, abbreviations: hybrid or Hyflex, meeting access is both in person and via Zoom or other web access; ADU, Accessory Dwelling Unit; CAR, Council Agenda Report; FA, Final Approval; PDA, Project Design Approval. Meeting locations: City Council chamber upstairs at City Hall, 735 Anacapa Street; David Gebhard Room (DGR), 630 Garden Street; Franklin Neighborhood Center, 1136 E. Montecito Street; Westside Neighborhood Center, 434 W. Victoria St.; 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.
MONDAY, 12/12
Single Family Design Board, 11:00 A.M., DGR, in person: Consent CalendarAgenda: A. 132 Juana Maria Ave, “construct a new 460 sq ft ADU”, PDA & FA; B. 931 Calle Cortita, PDA & FA. Architectural Drawings: link.
Architectural Board of Review, 1 P.M., DGR, in person, Consent Agenda: 502 E. Haley St., PDA & FA; 223 Uhlan Court PDA & FA, new item; 1215 Cacique St., PDA & FA, new item; Architectural drawings: link.
Architectural Board of Review, 3 P.M., DGR, hyflex, Regular Agenda: 831 Cliff Drive, FA; 334 State Street, FA; 513 de la Vina St, proposal to convert a commercial bldg. to 15 hotel units, FA; 425 Garden St., “…demolition of all on-site structures and construction of a four-story 36-unit residential complex with common rooftop amenities. The project proposes: two (2) Moderate-Income rental units, four (4) Very Low-Income rental units, and thirty (30) market-rate rental units. No parking is proposed on-site, consistent with the AUD Ordinance….” PDA, project last reviewed on 11/14/22, PDA; 601 Santa Barbara St, formerly 119 E. Cota, in-progress review of the new SBPD bldg, last reviewed 11/14/22; Architectural drawings, includes 11/14 staff comments on 425 Garden St.: link .
Neighborhood Advisory Council, 6 P.M., Westside N. C., Agenda: neighborhood informational reports and updates.
TUESDAY, 12/13
Planning Commission site visit, 8 A.M., in person, 621 W. Micheltorena St., for details, see PC listing on Thursday, below. Story poles will be up for this visit.
Sign Committee, 9 A.M., DGR, regular meeting, in person, Agenda: 3451 State St., Concept Review; 3609 State St. #A, conforming review; 510 State St. #200, Concept Review, new item.
City Council meetings; regular meeting, 2 P.M., hyflex; preceded by an 11 A.M., closed session to consider City Attorney appointment; access info, Agenda.; includes Ordinance committee as well as the regular Council meeting. Consent calendar, notable is item 13: “That Council approve and authorize the Mayor to execute, an employment agreement with Sarah Knecht to serve as the permanent City Attorney effective December 17, 2022.” Item 18, City Administrator presents annual presentation from Visit Santa Barbara; item 19, appointments to the Fire and Police Commission. This is the last council meeting for 2022. Schedule for 2023: Cancellation of 17 regular Council Meetings in 2023: Council holiday recommendations: 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.
City Council Ordinance Committee, 12:30 P.M., Council Chamber, Arts and Crafts show procedures and regulations.
WEDNESDAY, 12/14
Staff Hearing Officer, 9 A.M., in person, DGR; Agenda: A. 1260 Ferrelo Road; B. 101 Santa Cruz Blvd. “The 5,863-square-foot site, located at the corner of Santa Cruz Boulevard and Shoreline Drive, is currently developed with a 1,095-square-foot single-story residence with a 237-square-foot attached garage. The proposal consists of a new 1,963-square-foot two-story residence with a 406-square-foot attached garage. A new sidewalk would be provided along Shoreline Drive. One existing pepper tree and one existing palm tree have received approval from the Parks and Recreation Commission to be removed.”
Staff reports on both these projects: link. Extensive staff reports on Ferrelo Road are at the SFDB Documents, including a report on new construction adjacent or near to historic resources: link.
Parks and Recreation Commission, 4 P.M., hyflex, Council Chamber, agenda: various staff reports, plus
3. the Street Tree Advisory Recommendations:
- A. Approve the following street tree removal request: 1. 1318 E. Mason Street – Phoenix canariensis, Canary Island Date Palm – Paul Sancedo
- B. Conditionally approve the following setback tree removal request: 1. 361 Palisades Drive – Tipuana tipu, Tipu Tree – Arbor Services, Inc.
- C. Deny the following setback tree removal requests: 1. 302 Santa Anita Road– Jacaranda mimosifolia, Jacaranda – Joan Calder 2. 1901 Gibraltar Road– Liquidambar styraciflua, American Sweetgum – Jerry Simmons 3. 1427 Shoreline Drive– Araucaria columnaris, Cook Pine – James Malcolm 4. 3775 Modoc Road – (1) Eucalyptus sideroxylon, Red Ironbark, (7) Eucalyptus viminalis, Manna Gum, and (1) Corymbia citriodora, Lemon-scented Gum – Rachel Raynor
4. Subject: Advisory Committee Interviews and Appointments –Recommendation: That the Commission hold interviews and make appointments to the Golf Advisory Committee and Street Tree Advisory Committee.
(4:30 P.M., Golf Advisory Committee, meets monthly, 2nd Wednesdays, says its webpage.)
State Street Advisory Committee, 4 P.M., regular meeting, cancelled.
Creeks Advisory Committee, regular meeting, 5:30 P.M., apparently in person only, DGR, Agenda: reports and also C. Creeks Division Transition Into The Sustainability & Resilience Department, Cameron Benson, Creeks Division Manager: 10 minutes Committee Discussion: 10 minutes Recommendation: That the Committee receive a presentation and discuss the City moving the Creeks Division into the Sustainability & Resilience Division. – For Discussion, and not noted as to whether the Sustainability and Resilience Department holds public meetings.
D. 2023 Creeks schedule: link.
THURSDAY, 12/15
Planning Commission, 1 PM, Hyflex, Council Chamber, Agenda:
- A. 533 E. Micheltorena St., “The project proposes a new (8-unit) condominium development using the Average Unit-Size Density (AUD) Incentive Program. The project consists of constructing a new 45-foot tall, six-unit condominium building in the location of an existing surface level parking lot adjacent to an existing 48-foot, tall mixed-use condominium building ….” See the Agenda for the discretionary decisions required.
- B. 621 W. Micheltorena St., “The 10,454-square-foot site is developed with a two-story, 4,000-square-foot commercial building and 16 on-grade parking spaces, all of which is proposed to be demolished. The proposed development consists of a three-story, approximate 11,149-square-foot medical, behavioral health and dental clinic…” Owner: SB Neighborhood Clinics.
- Administrative agenda, with the usual liaison reports.
- Staff reports, here
Arts Advisory Committee, in person, Faulkner Gallery, regular meeting date, no agenda or cancellation. Those intending to be at the library for that meeting might consider a lecture at 6:30 P.M. in the Faulkner Gallery by John McKinney, “Discover the best hikes in California State Parks”: link.
Harbor Commission, 6:30 P.M., Council Chamber, hyflex, Agenda – meeting Cancelled; next regular, regular-scheduled meeting is January 19.
FRIDAY, 12/16
No meetings listed; administrative offices open.
Next week: holiday season begins for the Council and some of the advisory commissions & committees, and maybe also for this calendar of weekly meetings, perhaps to return in 2023.
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 seq. Other commissions may be formed by the City Council for certain issues of public concern. Santa Barbara Municipal Code.
Noted in this week’s city council Agenda: Special appointment to the Planning Commission; Council Consent Calendar: 17. Subject: Special Recruitment for City Advisory Groups, Planning Commission and Other Commissions, if needed
Recommendation: That Council: A. Authorize and direct the City Clerk’s office to accept applications through January 9, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. to fill vacancies on Boards and Commissions; B. Direct scheduling of City Council interviews of applicants for vacancies on Tuesday, January 24, 2023; and C. Direct scheduling of City Council appointments to fill the vacancies on Tuesday, January 31, 2023.
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.
The City of Santa Barbara emphasizes transparency: https://santabarbaraca.gov/government-transparency.
Not 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.
“The people of this State do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created.”
