This article was underwritten in part by the Mickey Flacks Journalism Fund for Social Justice, a proud, innovative supporter of local news. To make a contribution go to sbcan.org/journalism_fund.
Generally, state legislators make laws that apply to counties and cities across California. But if passed, a budget trailer bill introduced on Monday will impact a single project in the City of Santa Barbara — the controversial eight-story apartment building behind the Santa Barbara Mission.
Specifically, the bill will require that this project, which proposes 270 apartments, including 54 affordable units, undergo environmental review. These amendments come after state lawmakers exempted many urban residential projects from review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in June.
Monday’s bill outlines criteria that would de-exempt certain projects from bypassing CEQA. Non-exempt projects would be in cities with populations between 85,000 and 95,000 and in counties with populations between 445,000 and 455,000. Santa Barbara is the only city that currently fits this profile.
The non-exempt projects would also have to be on parcels four acres or larger, filed under the state housing provision “builder’s remedy,” include FEMA-labeled floodways as well as federal Fish and Wildlife–identified wetland, and be adjacent to a state historic landmark. Only the eight-story building proposed at 505 East Los Olivos hits these points.
Senator Monique Limón did not respond to request for comment in time for this story. The amended bill was ordered to its third and final reading on Wednesday. Friday is the last day each house can pass a bill.
The project’s developers, known collectively as The Mission LLC, say that the bill is an example of a few wealthy NIMBY (“not in my backyard”) residents exerting control on public policy to obstruct the development of low income housing.
“The project, located in a wealthy area of Santa Barbara, would provide 54 low income units and this attempt to block it demonstrates the kowtowing of some legislators to wealthy NIMBY constituents,” The Mission LLC said in a statement. The statement added that it is confident the courts will find the move illegal, suggesting possible legal action moving forward.
For months, many Santa Barbara residents have opposed the project, with some citing concerns over evacuation and safety. Others have organized to try to fight the project.
The roughly five-acre sloping property, nestled between the Santa Barbara Mission and the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, is near a fault line and in an area marked as ”high fire severity,” according to a CalFire map. The City of Santa Barbara has also marked it as within several archaeological and cultural sensitivity zones, with archaeology dating back to prehistoric times.
In July, the City of Santa Barbara sent a letter to the development team saying that the project would require environmental review, due to its lack of consistency with applicable parts of the city’s general plan and zoning regulations, and because it does not satisfy the environmental criteria outlined in the state legislation that would have exempted it.
The Mission LLC has filed legal action against both the City of Santa Barbara and County of Santa Barbara in recent months. In a suit against the city in May, it alleged that Santa Barbara had illegally found the project application incomplete after the city marked the plans as such for a fourth time. The city said the project plans were missing information, such as consistent net floor area details. The city deemed the project application complete in July.
In legal action against the county, the Mission LLC claimed it did not have to pay property taxes, as it rented to a religious organization, the Unitarian Universalist Mission. On state filing documents, the Unitarian Universalist Mission’s CEO and CFO are Craig and Stephanie Smith, who have connections to Ben Eilenberg, the Mission LLC’s project manager, according to city documents. The Smiths are the owners of another builder’s remedy project on Grand Avenue — Eilenberg is listed as that project’s manager as well. The Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara has said it is not affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Mission. All-told, the Mission LLC owes more than $200,000 in property taxes.
