Anonymous
By an edhat reader
Week of May 9-May 13: SB 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, good idea? waste of time? want it to continue but covering more than Santa Barbara city? There were requests for coverage of Carpinteria and Goleta; volunteers to do that and/or County meetings, please contact info@edhat.com.
Santa Barbara has a City Calendar of meetings; for May: https://www.santabarbaraca.gov/cals/. (NB: City Calendar is a guide and not always accurate.) City TV covers many of the meetings and has reruns and updates with newly-scheduled meetings: https://www.santabarbaraca.gov/gov/depts/cityadmin/programming.asp?Month=5&Year=2022#Top .
This month is budget time for the Council when each department presents its budget for Council approval and adoption. Next up on Monday, 5/9, is Parks & Rec., with the Creeks Division, and Golf Fund; on Tuesday, Finance Committee looks at proposed Enterprise Fund fee changes. There’s a new Financial Transparency Tool on the Budget & Finance page, but, regrettably, although the graphics are pretty, it didn’t lead us to departmental budgets.
Common acronyms, abbreviations: hybrid, meeting access is both in person and via Zoom or other web; PDA, Project Design Approval; FA, Final Approval. Meeting locations: City Council chambers upstairs at City Hall, 735 Anacapa Street; David Gebhard Room, 630 Garden Street, or where noted.
If we’ve mis-posted an address or there’s a meeting you’d like to have listed, please note in the Comments section below. Thanks!
MONDAY, 5/9
Single Family Design Board, 11:00 A.M., DGR, Consent Calendar, no electronic access; agenda: 3326 Madrona Drive, PDA; 1485 La Cima Road, PDA, FA; 1432 Hillcrest Road, PDA, FA; Architectural drawings available here.
Single Family Design Board, 3:00 P.M., DGR, regular meeting, Agenda, with electronic access: General Plan Update (5 minutes); 2706 La Cuesta Road, PDA, “substantial redevelopment” and an ADU; 1274 San Miguel, PDA; 130 Camino Alto Rd, new item, in the Hillside Design District, Concept Review; applicant: Jay Higgins; 0 Las Tunas Rd, new item, PDA, Hillside Design District; 2121 Las Tunas Rd, Continued item, Concept Review, new residence on a vacant lot, with removal of Coast Live oaks to be replaced with Coast Live Oak saplings. Architectural drawings and public comment pdfs available here.
City Council, Special Meeting, 1:30 – 5:00 P.M., Agenda: budget meeting, Fiscal Year 2023 Recommended Operating And Capital Budget for the Parks & Recreation, including Creeks Division and Golf Fund, FY 22, FY 23 recommended. These budgets are not listed for public viewing on their City webpages or on the CARs (Council Agenda Reports.)
Neighborhood Advisory Council, 6 P.M., Special Meeting at the Franklin Neighborhood Center, in person; agenda, Item 3, ” presentation from staff on upcoming construction for the Downtown De La Vina Street Safe Crosswalks and Buffered Bike Lanes and the Eastside Community Paseos Project and Westside Community Paseos Projects.”
TUESDAY, 5/10
City Council Finance Committee, hybrid, DG Room, 12:00 p.m., special meeting, Agenda, Review Of The Fiscal Year 2023 Recommended Budget, proposed changes in Enterprise Fund fees. This “Fiscal Year 2023 Recommended Budget” is not linked on the Council Online Meetings page; clicking the attachmentleads only to the list of budget hearings.
City Council Ordinance Committee, 12:00 P.M., Agenda, special meeting, council chambers, to change the M.C., 10.60.30, making the Anacapa Street 400 block not one-way.
City Council, regular meeting, 2 p.m., hybrid; Agenda.
WEDNESDAY, 5/11
Historic Landmarks Commission Consent Calendar, 11 A.M., DGR, public participation in person or in writing, Agenda: 2115 Garden St, new item, PDA; staff report and architectural drawings found on the Agenda page.
Historic Landmarks Commission, regular meeting, DGR, 1:30 P.M., Agenda, hybrid participation, electronic access info on the agenda page: 800 Santa Barbara St, archaeology report, demolition proposal of a one-story for a three-story AUD with tree removals; 222 E. Canon Perdido St, new item, Concept Review; 1426 Alta Vista Rd, PDA, applicant: Roxana Bonderson, Power Planning Services, Inc.; 330 State St, FA, proposal for adaptive re-use; 524 Chapala St, FA. Public comments, as of Sunday, 5/8, one re: a prior meeting about the de la Guerra Plaza, comparing to City of Santa Rosa process.
THURSDAY, 5/12
Downtown Parking Committee, regular monthly meeting, 7:30 A.M., DLG, Agenda, apparently, in person only, no electronic or video listed: Item 7: Fiscal Year 2023 Draft Parking and Business Improvement Area Annual Assessment Report, not linked; Item 8, presentation: A Day in the Life of State Street, Daily Activities in the State Street Promenade; Item 9: Program Updates: S.S. Promenade, Lot 3 Paseo, Budget Presentation to City Council, SWEB Mobile Launch. DPC 2022 Regular Meeting Schedule.
Planning Commission, 1 p.m., in person, Council Chambers, see agenda for electronic access: Agenda: Item lll: New items: 711 (ex 701) N. Milpas, Applicant/Owner RRM Design Group/711 N. Milpas Partners, l.P.; a revised proposal, 76-82 residential units, 1,365 Sq Ft non-residential floor area; height exception from 45′ to 48 ‘, from 88 to 110 parking spaces; density increase from 50 to 54 units/acre. Also, various discretionary applications to be considered by the P.C., see agenda. See also the 92-page Staff Report. 25 Las Alturas Road. Architectural drawings for both Las Alturas and Milpas are available here. Noted that the Roster needs updating: both past commissioners Reed and Schwartz are still listed.
FRIDAY, 5/13 – bi-weekly Administration holiday
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BUDGET HEARINGS SCHEDULE, fiscal year 2023, link. These are work sessions and public hearings, with a chance for the public to speak. City Departments will be presenting their annual budgets to the City Council starting in early May; on June 8, 6-9 P.M.: Committee Budget Recommendations to Council; Council Budget Deliberations; Final Council Budget Direction to Staff; Planned Close of Budget Hearings. Budget Adoption will be on June 21.
Of general interest:
City Advisory Commissions are listed with their duties and powers described in the Charter of the City of Santa Barbara, Article Vlll, Appointive Boards and Commissions. Others may be formed by the City Council for certain issues of public concern. Application deadline for current vacancies is Monday, May 9, 5 p.m. https://www.santabarbaraca.gov/gov/brdcomm/app.asp.
AIA-Santa Barbara, August 2020, State Street Promenade and housing community survey results, more than 4,800 responses, linked here.
A useful City webpage is Government Transparency: https://www.santabarbaraca.gov/gov/transparency/default.asp.
Oddly not listed under 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.”
