Santa Barbara Planning Commission Takes Up Affordable Housing

By Giana Magnoli, Noozhawk Staff Writer

Commissioners discuss a development feasibility study that examines creating a mobility-oriented development area

Adding affordable housing options to the city of Santa Barbara can be a touchy subject.

The city Planning Commission on Thursday discussed a development feasibility study that examined affordability and creating a mobility-oriented development area (MODA) — an area that has easy access to transit, commercial retail and affordable housing, and whose purpose is to create the opportunity for people to live, work and play without the need for a car, commissioners said.

Consultants Strategic Economics were paid to conduct the study. Its results recommended 60 dwelling units per acre for affordable housing, as well as shrinking the MODA to no longer include SBCC, the harbor area nor Casa de Las Fuentes, 922 Castillo St.

Residents who attended Thursday’s meeting questioned assumptions within the report and urged the commission to consider alternatives.

Representatives of several local organizations also urged the members to consider alternatives to the study’s recommendations.

Citizens Planning Association of Santa Barbara County and Allied Neighborhoods Association representatives were concerned with high-density buildings breaking up single-family neighborhoods, while the Community Environmental Council supports high-density housing along transit routes and encourages a move away from fossil fuels and car dependency.

A “scenario five,” put forth by Gil Berry and supported by many public speakers, would pursue the Affordability by Design model, like the Housing Authority uses, that builds more economically on less expensive land to allow lower development costs.

Options such as employer-subsidized housing, car sharing, requiring a minimum dwelling unit per acre ratio of developers, and various models of mixed-use buildings also were discussed.

While there’s no denying the tens of thousands of daily commuters and the high cost of living given Santa Barbara’s median income level, many residents appear hesitant to pursue high-density housing options because of aesthetic concerns, officials said.

“Often, affordability competes with character,” case planner John Ledbetter said.

Many people at the meeting were nervous about changing Santa Barbara’s small-town character and were skeptical about the “competing goals” of keeping the city beautiful while adding more units in available space. One of the Housing Authority’s workforce housing projects, Casa de Las Fuentes, was cited as a good example of affordable yet aesthetically pleasing housing.

“I’d be happy to see projects like that all over,” Commissioner Sheila Lodge said.

More affordable housing would benefit the community, Commissioner Joe Andrulaitis said. “Character needs to be about people, not building heights,” he said. “The community loses a lot if we can’t get people who work here to live here.”

The commission took no action during the three-hour meeting but continued it to another meeting. The MODA boundaries are undecided, although commissioners support the idea.

The major concern with creating MODAs was transportation — specifically, that MTD’s funding issues would mean it couldn’t accommodate enough routes to make car-less living feasible for enough people.

“It would be like building a great toy but no batteries,” Commissioner Charmaine Jacobs said.

The one consensus of the commission, although not official, was to change the standards of determining density to considering unit size from counting bedrooms.

— Noozhawk staff writer Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com

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