Westside Condo's
[ Excerpt from SBN-P article by Joshua Molina, 2/8/2006 ]
S.B. council approves Westside condo project
In a dramatic hearing rich with passionate testimony, a majority of the City Council rejected pleas from a Westside neighborhood to block a seven-unit condominium project.
The debate exemplified the broader community struggle over housing and density in Santa Barbara's increasingly crowded neighborhoods and tapped into the deep divisions over development.
In this case, the neighbors lost their fight to block the project.
... The Planning Commission had already approved the project. Neighbors appealed the matter to the full council where the outcome was a mystery to the end.
After six council members explained their positions, the council was split 3-3. Councilwoman Iya Falcone remained silent. When it came time for a formal vote, Ms. Falcone voted in favor of the condos, without explanation. When pressed after the meeting, she declined to comment.
Mayor Blum and council members Williams and Schneider voted against the condos. In addition to Ms. Falcone, council members Grant House, Roger Horton and Brian Barnwell voted in support of the project.
... Those in favor of the project said the one- and two-bedroom units were "affordable by design" because they were small and would provide housing for working families who have been squeezed out of Santa Barbara because of the hot real estate market.
... in today's dollars the condos would sell at a starting price of about $700,000. The units, however, won't be done and on the market until 2008 or 2009...
"These units will be the lowest-priced units on the market," [councilmember Grant House] said. "This project represents the kind of housing that is needed in downtown Santa Barbara today and into the future."
Ms. Schneider, a Westside resident, took exception to the idea that the housing would be affordable.
"The term affordable by design is a bogus term," Ms. Schneider said. "There's no such thing as affordable by design in Santa Barbara."
Mr. Williams said the project was wrong for the neighborhood and that it was unfair to force it on the residents.
"This project will unquestionably gentrify the neighborhood," he said. "It is more expensive than what is there now. It doesn't make sense for the city as a whole."
Mrs. Blum added that she is "conservative when it comes to neighborhoods."
...
e-mail: jmolina@newspress.com
Santa Barbara News-Press
S.B. council approves Westside condo project
In a dramatic hearing rich with passionate testimony, a majority of the City Council rejected pleas from a Westside neighborhood to block a seven-unit condominium project.
The debate exemplified the broader community struggle over housing and density in Santa Barbara's increasingly crowded neighborhoods and tapped into the deep divisions over development.
In this case, the neighbors lost their fight to block the project.
... The Planning Commission had already approved the project. Neighbors appealed the matter to the full council where the outcome was a mystery to the end.
After six council members explained their positions, the council was split 3-3. Councilwoman Iya Falcone remained silent. When it came time for a formal vote, Ms. Falcone voted in favor of the condos, without explanation. When pressed after the meeting, she declined to comment.
Mayor Blum and council members Williams and Schneider voted against the condos. In addition to Ms. Falcone, council members Grant House, Roger Horton and Brian Barnwell voted in support of the project.
... Those in favor of the project said the one- and two-bedroom units were "affordable by design" because they were small and would provide housing for working families who have been squeezed out of Santa Barbara because of the hot real estate market.
... in today's dollars the condos would sell at a starting price of about $700,000. The units, however, won't be done and on the market until 2008 or 2009...
"These units will be the lowest-priced units on the market," [councilmember Grant House] said. "This project represents the kind of housing that is needed in downtown Santa Barbara today and into the future."
Ms. Schneider, a Westside resident, took exception to the idea that the housing would be affordable.
"The term affordable by design is a bogus term," Ms. Schneider said. "There's no such thing as affordable by design in Santa Barbara."
Mr. Williams said the project was wrong for the neighborhood and that it was unfair to force it on the residents.
"This project will unquestionably gentrify the neighborhood," he said. "It is more expensive than what is there now. It doesn't make sense for the city as a whole."
Mrs. Blum added that she is "conservative when it comes to neighborhoods."
...
e-mail: jmolina@newspress.com
Santa Barbara News-Press
Posted by Malcolm on
2/09/2006
Subscribe to RSS Feed
0 Comments
Post a Comment
Links
Create a Link
<< Home