Anonymous
By an edhat reader
Week of 12/5 – 12/10: 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.) City TV covers many of the meetings and has reruns and updates with newly-scheduled meetings. However, 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, 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; 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, 12/5
Single Family Design Board, 11:00 A.M., DGR, in person: Consent Agenda: A. 36 Rincon Vista Rd, FA; 347 Salida del Sol, FA; 903 Alston Rd, PDA & FA. Public comment: link.
Architectural Board of Review, 1 P.M., DGR, in person, Consent Agenda: 111 N. La Cumbre, PDA & FA, new item; 502 E. Haley St., PDA & FA, new item; Shoreline Drive, Torii Gate, PDA & FA, Proposal to restore the Japanese Garden at the Torii Gate at Shoreline Drive, new item. Architectural drawings: link.
Single Family Design Board, 3 P.M., DGR, Hyflex, Zoom link at the Agenda: 130 Camino Alto Rd, PDA; 1269 Ferrelo Rd, PDA (cont); 925 Jimeno Rd. Concept Review, new item; . Architectural drawings, link. Public comment: link.
Santa Barbara Youth Council, 5:15 PM (not 3:15 as in Calendar of Events) in person, Franklin Neighborhood Center, Agenda: That Youth Council receive a presentation on the State Street Master Plan process, outreach opportunities, and discuss the future opportunities for State Street.
TUESDAY, 12/6
Council Agenda with access info, hyflex; Agenda Packet, 298 pgs.; includes Finance and Ordinance committees as well as the regular Council meeting.
City Council Finance Committee, 12:30 P.M., DGH, agenda: ” That Finance Committee consider and recommend an Outdoor Business Facility Charge for use of the public right-of-way on the State Street Promenade, including the 400 and 1300 blocks of State Street, for City Council consideration.”
City Council Ordinance Committee, 12:30 P.M., Council Chamber, Subject: Zoning Ordinance Amendments for Accessory Dwelling Units (640.09) ” New state legislation intended to increase production of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) necessitates updating the City’s zoning regulations. …Recommendation: That Ordinance Committee consider and recommend that City Council adopt amendments to the Inland Zoning Ordinance (Santa Barbara Municipal Code Title 30) and Coastal Zoning Ordinance (Santa Barbara Municipal Code Title 28) for Accessory Dwelling Units: the proposed amendments aim for consistency of the State requirements and local ordinances.
City Council, regular meeting, Hyflex, 2 P.M., city council chamber, access info at the Agenda: Consent Calendar of 19 items, including updated Planning Commission Guidelines that had been unanimously approved by the Planning Commission; Item 20, from the Finance Department: General Fund Operating Surplus and Adopt Reserve Policy [Resolutions], including a proposal to transfer 25% of the General Fund surplus to an Affordable Housing Trust Fund; Item 21: new Police and Fire Commission interviews; Item 22: appointments to the city advisory groups.
WEDNESDAY, 12/7
Historic Landmarks Commission, 11 A.M., in person, Consent Agenda: 1512 Castillo St., PDA & FA, cont. item, Historic Significance Report; 1118 Cabrillo Blvd., PDA & FA, Historic Significance Report; 1125 Anacapa St., Review after Final Approval, Historic Significance Reports: La Arcada, SB Museum of Art, Central Library; 1009 State Street, PDA & FA; 503 Arbolado Rd, PDA & FA, Historic Significance Report, Memo;
Historic Landmarks Commission, 1:30, DGR, hyflex; see Agenda for Zoom link: Items:
- State Street Parkway from Mission Street to Constance Avenue, Miscellaneous action item: City Landmark Designation Recommendation; click agenda for access to 5 links.
- 618 Sierra Street, Miscellaneous Action Item: Structure of Merit Designation; Historic Significance Report: link.
- 710 State St., New Item, Archaeological Report and Concept Review; “…The project consists of a proposal to construct a 32,799 sq. ft, four-story, 66-room hotel, including a restaurant/bar and conference room, on 6 lots totaling 30,004 square ft.” Also includes 16 parking spaces and demolition of present building at 710 State St, including the 1,000 sq ft. building at 19 E. Ortega St.);
- 1118 E. Cabrillo Blvd; cont. item, PDA & FA, Cabrillo Pavilion and Stoa; Historic Significance Report;
- 1426 Bath St, cont. item, PDA; Historic Significance Report;
- 1242 Dover Lane, new item: Phase 1 and Phase 2 Historic Structures sites reports & Concept Review. Phase 1 Historic Structures/Sites Report, Phase 2 Historic Structures/Sites Report.
THURSDAY, 12/8
Downtown Parking Committee, 7:30 A.M., regular meeting, DGR, in person; meeting cancelled; next scheduled: January 12.
Planning Commission, 1 PM, Hyflex, Council Chamber, Agenda: New Item: 1364 Shoreline Drive, ” The 6,206 square foot site is currently developed with a 1,067 square foot single-story single unit residence, a 365 square foot attached garage, and a 96 square foot shed. The proposed project involves demolition of all existing structures on-site and construction of a new 2,061 square foot two-story single-unit residence with a 415 square foot attached garage. …” Staff report, here; for Plans, please click here. A site visit for 1364 Shoreline Dr. is at 8 A.M.
FRIDAY, 12/9
All day: CLOSED – City Administrative Offices
State Street Workshops: Help Design State Street! <LINK> , 821 State Street:
Starts: Friday, Dec 9, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM, “This first workshop is geared towards design professionals (e.g., those working in design, construction, land use, and related fields), ” according to the City website.
Take the survey, recommended before the workshop.
Other study groups/”workshops” for the rest of us:
Friday, Dec 9, 4:00 – 7:00 PM (Sunset is @ 4:49 P.M.)
Saturday, Dec 10, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Ends: Dec 10, 1:00 – 4:00 PM
Community Open House, Saturday, 12/10, 1-4, ” to view the workshop posters, review existing conditions, and participate in a variation of the workshop activities.” No address listed but probably at 821 State Street.
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.
State Street interactive survey: https://new.maptionnaire.com/q/32d2sap6v8mv, “The City of Santa Barbara is seeking input to re-envision Downtown, from the 101 freeway to Sola Street and Chapala to Anacapa Streets as part of the State Street Master Plan.
This interactive survey will help identify the community’s vision, favorite places, challenges, and opportunities for State Street and the surrounding area, and identify streetscape improvements. …”
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.”
