How SB’s Latest Rental Development Plan Could Remake Downtown into a Canyon of Tall Structures
By Jerry Roberts of Newsmakers
Sheila Lodge wrote the e-book — literally — about the heritage of setting up policy in Santa Barbara, and she won’t mince phrases about the newest shiny notion prior to City Council to tackle our alleged “housing crisis.”
The proposal, tagged with the beguiling title “Flooring Place Ratio” (Far), says the longtime Planning Commissioner and previous Mayor, “need to be dropped.”
Policy wonk, urban arranging creator and Pearl Chase successor, Commissioner Lodge responded in a Newsmakers job interview to the current Town Corridor debate more than Much, an abstruse but massively consequential idea to spur construction of rental housing, being pushed by architects, builders and a couple professional-advancement council customers.
As Josh Molina and Nick Welsh each have noted, the debate has been place on maintain pending a ….wait around for it…new consultant’s report about selections for exactly where and how to make residences and condos that the center course – imagine lecturers, cops and firefighters – basically can afford to pay for.
Sheila, wielding Real Details, figures and the fundamentals of provide and demand, not to mention the rules of arithmetic, makes a persuasive case that substituting this sort of a process — in which creating size replaces the amount of units as the critical criteria in approval of multi-unit developments – not only would fall short to satisfy the objectives of churning out “reasonably priced” housing but also pave the way for 60-foot structures that may sign the conclude of Santa Barbara’s one of a kind and meticulously curated smaller town charm, layout and aesthetic.
In our discussion, Lodge points to Santa Barbara’s higher construction expenditures — three occasions the statewide for every sq. foot typical — presents a exact and favorable accounting of the current pro-rental progress plan — that is the AUD, not the ADU, for all those making an attempt to retain their acronyms straight — and delivers historical perspective of how the city’s housing debate has been underway for more than a century — her slim but indispensable volume “Santa Barbara: An Uncommonplace American Town/How Considerate Organizing Shaped a City” need to be essential examining for any one experience the require to opine publicly on the issue.
Along the way, she also presents some intriguing political observations — together with her endorsements for Mayor and Council (spoiler warn: it really is Randy and Kristen).
View our conversation with Sheila Lodge through YouTube below or by clicking by this website link. The podcast version is below.
