The three candidates for Santa Barbara City Council in District 5 answered questions about housing developments in La Cumbre Plaza, the city’s permitting process, and the biggest issues they’ve identified in their district during a forum Thursday night.
Candidates Ian Baucke, Cevin Cathell and James Zurlinden are looking to replace Eric Friedman, who is termed out and running for Santa Barbara Mayor. District five includes Upper State Street, San Roque, Samarkand and surrounding neighborhoods.
The forum was moderated by Santa Barbara Independent reporter Ryan P. Cruz and took place at Harry’s Plaza Cafe. About 65 people attended the event, which included refreshments and other appetizers for the audience members.
District 5 Housing Developments
On the topic of housing, Baucke said the developers of the 700-unit housing project proposed at La Cumbre Plaza and the Macy’s building have tried their best to emulate Santa Barbara history with the project. Walkable, kid-friendly and close by to many local businesses, Baucke said the development will “fit in,” gesturing to the photographs of old Spanish style buildings nailed to the walls.
The Sears housing project, on the other hand, encompasses the “monotone, boxy former department store,” and still needs some work, Baucke said. While dense housing will provide people with homes, it may not come with the most attractive quality of life, Baucke said. The project would provide 443 housing units.
“The way we have a housing element that’s compliant is by doing what we’ve said we’re going to do for the last 10 years, to build 1000 units in La Cumbre Plaza,” Baucke said. “We have to do that thoughtfully.”
Cathell said she is very concerned that District 5 doesn’t have the infrastructure to handle 1,000 new housing units, potentially bringing over 3,000 people and children. Utilities aren’t prepared, schools could be overloaded and traffic may congest the streets, she said.
Still, Cathell emphasized that the district needs more housing, otherwise neighborhoods could see builder’s remedy projects—which developers can use to bypass local regulations to build tall and dense buildings when the city doesn’t meet its housing element. She suggested putting a daycare in one of the buildings to relieve some pressure on schools.
Streamlining City Processes in District 5
Zurlinden said his background in the restaurant industry has made him familiar with “tedious” permitting processes. He said the city needs to shift their permitting process to a single point of contact, like a case manager, that can take on an entire single case in city hall to submit permits to each department.
“Streamlining everything down to a single point of contact and having one single fee that will cover everything is going to make things a lot smoother for our businesses and homeowners,” Zurlinden said.
Baucke said that Santa Barbara can learn from cities such as San Francisco, where small businesses can utilize the sidewalks outside their establishments for customer seating. He also said that the city council needs to take on a “culture of yes” when supporting small businesses.
Cathell called out one of her District 5 neighbors in the audience when it was her turn to answer the question, referencing their difficult time trying to get a permit to build an ADU for their home. District 5, being a largely residential and single-family home-centered pocket of Santa Barbara, sees many cases similar to Cathell’s neighbor, she said.
“We need a culture of yes, I agree with you wholeheartedly,” Cathell said to Baucke. “It’s very difficult and expensive to build here.”
Door-to-Door, What does District Five Care About Most?
Baucke said the biggest issue he hears from people when knocking on doors is street safety, and that many people don’t feel that District 5 is friendly enough for pedestrians. He referenced a major accident on Las Positas road where a pedestrian was killed crossing the street.
“The city sat on its hands for years before putting in a crosswalk there,” Baucke said. “We had the money, we just didn’t have the will to do it in a timely fashion.”
Neighbors also complained to Baucke that SBConnect, the city’s online portal to ask for repairs, is like sending a request “into a black hole.” He said Santa Barbara’s city government needs to deliver immediate responses to safety concerns.
Cathell said that the District 5 community is afraid of the character of their neighborhood changing as large-scale housing developments come up, especially in La Cumbre Plaza. Not only would the neighborhood look and feel different, but flows of people and traffic could completely change for the worse, according to Cathell.
“We’re a district of mostly homeowners,” she said. “People pay a lot in taxes to live here, and they’re finding it more challenging to stay in their homes.”
For Zurlinden, he said his neighbors are most concerned about wildfire risk and the insurance policies that come with it.
Otherwise, Zurlinden said that the people of District Five care about “the little things” and want to see them addressed, from bike paths, to speed bumps to safe access to schools.
“We need to make little projects like these a priority, because that’s how we actually give back to our community.”
