The bicycles win, 5-2.
It wasn’t quite as thrilling as a World Cup knockout round game, but Santa Barbara City Hall had its share of cheers, jeers and celebrations Tuesday night, in a discussion about the future of State Street.
With about 100 people in attendance at City Hall, and another 2,000 watching the YouTube livestream, the City Council voted to keep State Street the way it is.
The vote means State Street, from the 500 to 1100 blocks, will remain closed to cars, and open to electric bikes and pedestrians.
The 1200 block will continue to have one lane of vehicular traffic.
Mayor Randy Rowse and councilman Eric Friedman voted to return the street to its pre-COVID 19 condition, and allow cars to return in both directions, but they were outnumbered by their colleagues.
“This is our seventh summer coming up,” Rowse said. “Seven summers since we have had a Fiesta parade or anything on State Street and we’re feeling it. And feeling it in the town’s spirit as well.”
Rowse said electric bikes have taken over the downtown.
“We have a sidewalk where people walk and a street where bikes rule, nowadays,” Rowse said. “I think the time is now to go back, open up the street.”
Rowse said retail businesses are suffering.
“It just doesn’t feel like a business street,” Rowse said. “It feels like the county fair.”
The battle over State Street has shined a spotlight on a demographic and power shift in Santa Barbara. A new generation of mostly under 30 activists is challenging the establishment, on everything from alternative transportation to housing policy and rent stabilization.
In this case, they are pushing for greater bicycle and pedestrian mobility downtown and contend that the car symbolizes pollution, road danger and a bygone era.
Community activist Hannah Cohen said a majority of people want State Street closed and it is the most popular policy decision that the council could make.
“We’re in an ever-disconnected world,” Cohen said. “Cars on State Street will just disconnect us more. We really need to have more face-to-face-opportunities.”
But many longtime locals, boomers and Gen Xers, remember a time when they could drive downtown in their vehicles, check out the retail stores and restaurants and then park in a lot and walk to their destinations. Others have expressed feeling unsafe or harassed by people riding electric bikes downtown.
“Honestly I feel like we should ban e-bikes altogether on State Street,” said community activist Reyna Angel. “They can use the side roads and it should be just open to cars.”
Angel said she walked a block from El Paseo to City Hall to testify at the council meeting Tuesday and she almost got hit by three e-bikes.
Meanwhile, many businesses have expressed support for keeping the street closed to cars, but some others want it back open.
Jenna Berg, who owns a piano bar downtown on the 1200 block, said noise from vehicles does not align with the vibe of her business.
“There is noise, there is pollution, there are cars on the one lane that I would like to see not be there,” Berg said. “I imagine if you open State Street all the way down, there will be 20 times as many loud, polluting, speeding cars who do not stop.”
But Kathy Romasanta-Eckert, who owns a hotel on Cabrillo Boulevard, said many of her guests don’t travel up to State Street because it is “dirty, stinking and dangerous.”
She said the e-bikes are ruining the street.
“Open it up,” she said. “Get the e-bikes off. Open up State Street.”
Tess Harris, Santa Barbara’s State Street Master Planner, said retail vacancies on State Street are about 12.5%, according to Radius Commercial Real Estate. Ideally, she said, that number would be about 5%. But still, the retail vacancy rate is about the same as it was in 2019, when the street was open to cars.
She also said that the current configuration would delay emergency response times between 60 and 90 seconds, if there were a major emergency in the area. Returning the street to cars, including removing all of the extended sidewalks, planters and other public furniture, would cost about $700,000.
The technical vote Tuesday night was to extend Title 31, which was an emergency order put into place during the COVID-19 pandemic. The order closed part of State Street to cars and allowed outdoor dining. Title 31 was set to expire in December.
As a practical matter, the council’s 5-2 vote means the street will remain how it is until the City Council approves the State Street Master Plan. The council is set to vote in August, but implementing the changes could take several years.
The Master Plan allows for e-bikes in both directions, but proposes one lane of vehicular traffic from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., using mechanical and retractable bollards., going north, away from the ocean.
Santa Barbara City Councilwoman Kristen Sneddon said the momentum around State Street is headed in the right direction. She noted the changes coming to Paseo Nuevo and the presence of UCSB and Westmont College downtown.
Sneddon said the city must continue its momentum.
“This is just not the time to go back,” Sneddon said.
