What's in the "Pipeline"?
Summer, 2008: three- or four-story buildings in the planning "pipeline" for extended downtown Santa Barbara; most if not all include condos, market rate, for the most part:
- 517 Chapala Street — prelim. approval granted spring '08 by the City
Council (CC) on an appeal.
- 531 Chapala Street — in construction
- 1528 State Street — prelim. approval in 1/2007 (good for two years.)
- 1025 Santa Barbara Street — Planning Commission (PC) approval on 12/20/07;
yet to receive Historic Landmarks Commission (HLC) prelim. approval.
- 819 Garden Street — Various (PC/HLC) approvals obtained; building
permit is in process.
- 630 Anacapa Street — gone through various stages, HLC concept review,
4/4/07; not currently scheduled for a PC review.
- Radio Square, 210 W. Carrillo at De la Vina — PC approval 4/2008;
at the HLC for prelim. review/approval.
- Arlington Condos, 1333 Chapala at Sola, SE corner — Concept review
at the PC on 3/6/08; nothing since.
- Magellan Condos, 110 West Sola at Chapala — HLC concept reviews in
11/ and 12/07; submitted to the PC on 6/11/08.
- 318 State Street (aka. Andalucia Building) — original project not
withdrawn but not currently active in the pipeline.
- Transit Village, 1000 Block of Chapala Street — no formal submission
of design or development review to the city's Redevelopment Agency. Front
page Santa Barbara News-Press coverage in November, 2007 revealed a (subsequently
somewhat modified in February) proposal that one letter writer called
a "mausoleum",
another a "retro casino", along with other less agreeable descriptions.
- Condos proposed for the 700 block of Anacapa Street
- Condos/mixed use proposed for 800 Santa Barbara Street — 5/22/08 review before the PC; note the address on this project, directly adjoining the Anacapa School, the Trust for Historic Preservation property, the heart of El Pueblo Viejo.
We intend a separate page for a list and brief description of all
the large projects underway in El Pueblo Viejo, projects found on the
City Web site "neighborhood
activity" page.
A glimpse of how the process works:
These are buildings or projects in various stages of the planning process. Some of them, as Radio Square, for instance, have already gone through various iterations at various commissions. Some are in the first, "concept review," stages. All of them promise to change irrevocably the immediate areas where they are to be located.
All projects in the El Pueblo Viejo Landmark District have to go through the city's Historic Landmarks Commission, (HLC), formed in 1960. Check the link for all its many duties, but in essence: "To approve, disapprove, or approve with conditions, and advise the City Council concerning plans for exterior alteration or construction upon any property within any designated Landmark District or Hillside Design District."
Also part of the building "pipeline" is the venerable Planning Commission, formed in 1923. Sitting for appeals from a decision of the Planning Commission are the Mayor and the 6 members of the City Council. Once the Staff Hearing Officer or Planning Commission (or Council on appeal) approves a project, preliminary and final approvals occur at the Architectural Board of Review or the Historic Landmarks Commission. Once Final approval has occurred, the project working drawings (plans, including all the details, all the mechanical, plumbing, electrical, interior plans, etc.) are submitted to the Building & Safety Division for plan check and, ultimately, issuance of the building permit(s).
(Artist's sketch at the top:
courtesy
of Citizens Planning Association)
