The Santa Barbara City Council upheld a March planning commission vote to approve redevelopment of a multi-million dollar bluff-side home on the Mesa, denying a concerned neighbor’s appeal.
Neighbors of the site, 2339 Edgewater Way, had concerns about the intensity of the project posing a public safety threat — in Winter of 2023, a slope failure collapsed a large portion of the house and cliff it rested on. The applicant said the proposal is indistinguishable from development patterns in the neighborhood, and was approved by geotechnical engineers.
The City Council voted 4-2 to deny the appeal, siding with the applicant. Council members Kristen Sneddon and Wendy Santamaria voted not to deny the appeal, concerned with bluff safety. Councilman Mike Jordan abstained because he lives near the house.
However, council members agreed that cases like 2339 Edgewater Way call for development reform at the policy level. They said they often struggle with making decisions in a case-by-case manner, and need a new standard. Councilmember Kristen Sneddon noted that the appellant, who argued that the proposed development was too big, also owns a large bluff-side home.
“Neighborhood compatibility is a slippery slope,” Sneddon said. “I don’t think the appellant’s property should be as big as it is with the sensitivity of these bluffs.”
The redevelopment proposes demolishing the existing house — a two-story single unit residence and detached one-car garage — followed by construction of a new two-story house, basement, two-car detached garage with an ADU above, pool and spa, driveway paving and new landscaping. The new house will be around 25 feet high. It also asks for an emergency permit for coastal development, which would allow developers to clear the slope below of large vegetation and loose rocks.
Homes on the Mesa are desirable in Santa Barbara for their beach access and views. 2339 Edgewater Way sits west of the Mesa Lane steps, a popular route down to the shore. At a site visit on Monday, City Council Members and Mayor Randy Rowse examined the home’s oceanfront view.
Next door neighbor and appellant Alexandra Hack said in her appeal letter that the Planning Commission approved the development permit on incorrect calculations, such as approving the slope as 25% when it is actually 31%. She also cited privacy concerns, unresolved fire code regulations and an unclear building height.
“The mass and height is completely beyond the reasonable scale of the neighborhood’s and especially my adjacent property,” Hack wrote in the letter.
The applicant gained approval for the house March 19 with a 3-1 vote. Jarrett Gorin, a land-use consultant for Vanguard Planning, said the appeal was full of erroneous information.
“There’s a reason why the city staff are recommending denial of this appeal,” he said ahead of the meeting.
At the meeting, Gorin and the project’s staff refuted all of the appellant’s claims that their application did not meet standards. Gorin highlighted that the Single-Family Design Board decided that the applicant addressed all concerns and comments accurately.
Still, something felt off for some council members. Councilmember Eric Friedman said he struggled with greenlighting the construction, but didn’t feel comfortable to deny the applicant’s professional third-party findings.
Councilmember Meagan Harmon called for policy change on bluff development.
“I hope there’s a possibility for healing in this neighborhood,” Harmon said.
