Santa Barbara City Council to receive progress report today on efforts
“Given the existing concentration of retail (50% more retail per capita on State Street than retail per capita regionally), State Street has opportunities for growing experiential-based activities, mixed use and food and beverage businesses,” according to the city of Santa Barbara staff.
The Santa Barbara City Council today will receive a progress report for the State Street “Create State” Master Plan — a long-term plan for downtown Santa Barbara that focuses on the creation of public space designed for people rather than vehicles.
The council will meet in its chambers, 735 Anacapa St., starting at 2 p.m.
The Create State Master Plan prioritizes pedestrians and the public realms to benefit residents, visitors and the local economy through the creation of a designated public space, according to staff.
The project area includes Anacapa to Chapala streets and State Street from Sola Street to the Highway 101 underpass.
The final product for the Create State project will include a preferred conceptual design concept and implementation plan that the city will use to construct the downtown capital improvement project.
The Create State project remains on schedule for completion of the Master Plan between December 2023 and February 2024, staff said.
Bicyclists travel down lower State Street, which has been closed to vehicular traffic since May 2020.
Staff’s report today will highlight the work undertaken over the last six months, including existing conditions analysis, the various opportunities for public engagement, and the next steps to determine a design concept and implementation plan for State Street and the downtown area.
Major work over the last six months associated with Create State (the State Street Master Plan) has included analyzing existing economic, transportation, utility and land use conditions downtown; confirming the community’s vision for the project area; developing a project website that more than 5,200 people have visited; releasing a community survey that more than 5,500 people have viewed and 4,000 people have taken; and engaging more than 1,500 people during in-person outreach events.
The Create State team is analyzing economic trends, mobility patterns and land uses in downtown Santa Barbara to determine what considerations should be made in the conceptual design, what opportunities exist for redevelopment, what is economically viable, and what infrastructure to consider in a future design.
Outdoor dining parklets have proven to be popular with restaurants and bars on State Street.
The team conducted existing conditions analysis “because staff wants to ensure that the designs we put forward for the community to react to are realistic and achievable given constraints in the right-of-way.
“The block structures in downtown Santa Barbara allow for a unique pedestrian experience and the potential for further variation along the street frontage, with over 20 doorways on each block and a concentration of multi-story buildings along the 700–900 blocks of State Street,” staff said.
“Given the existing concentration of retail (50% more retail per capita on State Street than retail per capita regionally), State Street has opportunities for growing experiential-based activities, mixed use and food and beverage businesses.”
Staff said State Street sales tax data show that restaurants generate the most revenue and that food services and drinking establishments have recovered from their low numbers during the 2019–2020 pandemic.
Additional economic analysis is being conducted, including case studies related to retail retention and expansion. Interconnected market support between retail and other uses, office space and business and employment trends by industry and location are also being studied.
“These analyses will help determine the economic feasibility of the future conceptual design and proposed closure location,” staff said. “A future design will also need to consider utilities, including water, sewer, traffic signal and conduits, fiber optic and stormwater infrastructure.
“Initial transportation data shows that the State Street closure created a safer environment than pre-pandemic conditions due to the reduced number and severity of accidents,” staff said.
Collision analysis indicates that before the State Street closure, between October 2018 and April 2020, there were 17 total collisions along State Street, with a maximum of six crashes at one intersection. After the State Street closure, between June 2020 and December 2021, there were 10 total collisions, with a maximum of two crashes at one intersection.
Other transportation data analysis currently being finalized includes review of mobility patterns on State, Anacapa and Chapala streets; analysis of the transit system and parking supply; and percentage of the right-of-way on each block used for pedestrians, bicycles, parking and vehicles.
“This information will help to refine a conceptual design and ensure that various modes of transportation connect to the project area,” according to staff.
In other business today, the City Council is being asked to appoint the mayor pro tempore, and chairs and members of the Ordinance and Finance Committees.
The council also has several items to approve on its consent calendar, which usually do not require discussion.
They include adopting an ordinance establishing a standing Finance Committee (now governed by resolution) and Ordinance Committee process revisions pertaining to its powers and duties, and a resolution of intention to modify the Management District Plan of the Santa Barbara South Coast Tourism Business Improvement District.
Also on the Consent Calendar, staff is asking the council to authorize the community development director to execute a one-year $450,000 agreement with Kingdom Causes Inc. (City Net) to provide street outreach (including evenings and weekends), case management and housing navigation services for homeless individuals, with an option by the city to extend an additional year.
In addition to its regular meeting, the council will hold a special meeting today at 10 a.m. to conduct a public employee performance evaluation of City Administrator Rebecca Bjork.
And the Finance Committee is scheduled to meet at 12:30 p.m. today in the David Gebhard Public Meeting Room, 630 Garden St., to consider whether to ask the full council to establish a low-income homeowner rehabilitation pilot program for city residents. That would involve providing grant funding of up to $50,000 to Habitat for Humanity to operate the program.
email: nhartsteinnewspress@gmail.com
