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The plan for the development at 222 E. Canon Perdido St. is scaled back from four stories to three and 34 units to 27

Downtown Santa Barbara is slated to get 27 new apartments, but the debate at Thursday's meeting of the city Planning Commission was whether 27 was enough.

Owner Jeremy Bassan wants to build a three-story apartment building at 222 E. Canon Perdido St., on what's currently a parking lot, next to a commercial building.

The project calls for 19 parking spaces within a puzzle lift stacking system, and six surface spaces. The parking would be for the commercial building. No parking for the residents is proposed because it is downtown and residents would be expected to park in city lots or not have vehicles.

The apartments would consist of 15 one-bedroom units and 12 studios.

A version of the project has lingered for a couple of years. It was originally proposed as a seven-unit condominium project. After pushback on building condos instead of apartments, the development team changed the proposal to a 34-unit apartment project with four stories.

The Santa Barbara Historic Landmarks Commission, however, raised concerns that the project was four stories tall and created a canyon effect at the site, and that it was too close to El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park.

So, on Thursday, the development team scaled back the project to 27 units and eliminated the fourth story.

Commission chair Gabe Escobedo, a housing advocate, was not pleased.

"I am not happy about losing seven units," Escobedo said. "We have limited areas of opportunity for us to develop housing."

Unofficially known as the American Riviera, Santa Barbara has struggled to build enough housing for the number of people who work in the city. For decades, the city's housing policies discouraged developers from building rental housing. In 2013, the city approved what's known as an "average unit-size density" program, which allows developers to build high-density housing if they are building rentals. Since then, the program has resulted in about 400 new rental units and another 331 in the development pipeline.

As originally conceived, the ordinance did not require any of the units to be rented below market. As a result, for the first time in decades, developers were building apartments, but with government-imposed rental limits, they rented them at the market rate, with one-bedroom and two-bedroom units renting for $2,700 and $3,500 in some spots. In 2019, the city added an inclusionary housing element that requires 10% of the so-called AUD units to be rented below market.

The project also unintentionally competes with the city's Housing Authority, which builds traditional affordable housing and also is looking for land around town on which to develop housing.

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About 15,000 people from Ventura and northern Santa Barbara County commute into Santa Barbara to work Monday through Friday because the housing is cheaper in other cities.

Escobedo said the city's design boards should not be discouraging housing units, adding that while considerations about size, bulk and scale are necessary, there needs to be a new conversation if those concerns are resulting in the loss of new apartments.

This project, he said, doesn't need modifications, so the city shouldn't be providing feedback that reduces units in a project.

"I am deeply troubled," Escobedo said.

In his comments Thursday, he suggested that the developer consider adding back the fourth floor because it would result in more housing and one more below-market-rate unit. 

Commissioner Lesley Wiscomb added: "We want people who work here to live here, to be able to have jobs here."

The project also calls for 28 bike parking spaces, in a bike lift system. There's also an alley, made of concrete, that is essentially unused.

Christine Pierron, an architect with the Cearnal Collective, said the firm is in talks with the city about converting that area into green or open space for the project. The developer also is in talks with El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park to donate a portion of the property for an easement.

The height of the project would be about 38 feet 4 inches, down from 38 feet 11 inches from the original condo proposal.

Commissioner John Baucke also expressed disappointment with the direction from the HLC.

"I am just very frustrated that you lost the fourth floor," Baucke said. "I don't see that as a good decision. We need as many units as possible." 

The project is still in the concept review stage, so the development team will take the advice from the commission and the HLC and submit a revised project.

"It's a great opportunity for some downtown rental housing," Pierron said.

— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) . Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.

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