Building Height Ceasefire

[ Excerpt from: "Ceasefire in Downtown Height Fight - Preservationists and Smart Growth Activists Craft a Compromise," SB INDEPENDENT, April 17, 2008, By Martha Sadler ]

A group that has been passing around a petition to limit building heights in Santa Barbara stood shoulder-to-shoulder on the steps of City Hall with their nemesis, the “smart-growth” crowd who preach the gospel of building up—not out—to avoid sprawl. The occasion, on Thursday afternoon, April 14, was to announce that the two camps have laid the groundwork for a possible “treaty of El Pueblo Viejo.” The fight over heights, sparked by recent developments on Chapala Street, drove a wedge between former allies in urban design battles of the past. However, it appeared to be over as both sides praised the compromise they have crafted during the past couple of months. The new coalition is hoping that the City Council will adopt their compromise as an ordinance...

[The compromise] would create a 40-foot height limit in all commercial zones that allow residential uses, with one major exception. Projects that include at least 30 percent affordable housing—up to 200 percent of the median income—would be rewarded with an additional 12 feet of height. It would also require more ground-floor open space than current law demands for mixed-use buildings. Landscaping, patios, or walkways open to the sky would have to take up 10 percent of the lot area, and said open space would have to be adjacent to the street. Buildings on State Street or within a block of it would be exempt from the open space requirement...

“This tackles the biggest issues... in one page of law,” enthused Councilman Das Williams, whom both sides said was instrumental in brokering the agreement.

Councilwoman Helene Schneider emphasized that the new coalition was not trying to hijack the general plan updating process...

------------------------------

For full text of this article, along with pictures and comments, please go to:
SBI: Building Heights Ceasefire