Whole Foods project causes community concern

Adding a Whole Foods Market to the upper State Street area, already a target of concern for neighborhood and activist groups because of traffic congestion and other issues, will be on the docket for the Santa Barbara Planning Commission July 14.

With big changes in store for that area, including at least three other projects under review, city staff members Rob Dayton and Bettie Weiss guided planning commissioners through a review of outer State street traffic conditions last week, as members of the public advocated for a comprehensive look at the area before any new projects are approved, something staff is, in essence, already doing as part of the General Plan update, according to Weiss, a city planner.

Without delving into too many specifics, Weiss and Dayton, senior transportation planner, presented an overview of what may be in store for upper State Street:

-A revamped Circuit City, a new Whole Foods supermarket and rooftop parking for nearly 300 cars, at State Street and Hitchcock Way;

– A three-story mix of commercial office space and condos, for 3885 to 3887 State St.;

-A renovated Sandman Inn, which loses the restaurant but includes a three-story 113-room hotel and 64 condos; and

-A mix of commercial office space and 16 condos, at 15 S. Hope Ave.

While not in the city review process yet, Earl Ensberg, of Grace Lutheran Church near La Cumbre Plaza, also said his church is looking at building housing for seniors on the church’s property on the 3800 block of State Street.

Representatives from the Citizens Planning Association, Urban Creeks Council, League of Women Voters, Grove Lane Neighborhood Association and the Allied Neighborhood Association, and several individuals raised concerns about the impacts of the developments. In addition to calling for a strict adherence to zoning requirements, several speakers, including planning commissioners, expressed a desire that these developments be used as an opportunity to incorporate creek restoration and more open space into the area, which many described as an example of bad planning both functionally and aesthetically.

Since the majority of the proposed developments are mixed use, phasing out commercial office space in favor of housing, Dayton said that traffic might eventually be reduced because people will walk to stores rather than get in their cars every time they need something.

” I’m not an expert on traffic. But to me, that’s poppycock,” said Joe Guzzardi, who lives in the area. ” It’s ridiculous. It’s not the real world. The real world is that we have gridlock on upper State Street.”

These cumulative impacts are going to need your full attention, said Connie Hannah from the League of Women Voters. “There is no way to change the roads, so restrictions on development seem the only recourse.”

The Whole Foods/Circuit City project is scheduled to be heard by the Planning Commission at approximately 5:15 p.m. at City Hall.

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on July 14, 2005.

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