City planners aim to define standards

Based on the philosophy that “we know what we like (or don’t like) when we see it,” Santa Barbara City Planners are reaching out to the community to help define standards for residential designs.

More than 100 people gathered recently — in the first of a series of neighborhood visual survey workshops — using nifty real time technology to evaluate pictures of houses based on whether they were suitable for Santa Barbara and if the size of the home was compatible with the size of the lot. Participants were also asked their views about the evaluation and notification processes for renovations of homes in their neighborhoods.

Favorite design features were not surprising, said City Planner Bettie Hennon. All of the top-rated homes featured large front yard setbacks with a lot of green space. Other popular architectural elements included front porches, “wedding caking” of second stories, garage door setbacks or tandem garages and varied rooflines and wall articulations.

The homes locals adamantly disliked were tall (three story), skinny houses without yards, typically seen in other beach communities along the coast.

There are over 23 communities in the state looking at similar regulations to control or guide single family homes, said Mark Broudeur, principal of RRM Design Group, the consulting firm hired to assist the city. He characterized this as a “super size generation,” noting that in 1950, the average size of a single-family home was 983 square feet, which jumped to 2,265 square feet in 2000.

The initial survey also found that 88% of people favored early notification of neighbors doing remodels. In addition, 73% said that remodels in the neighborhood increased the value of their property. More than half of the attendees (58%) said we should set maximum home size per lot size.

The ultimate goal of updating the Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance (nicknamed “The Big House Ordinance”) is to restructure new single-family home and remodel regulations to reflect community preferences and expectations. Planning staff and the steering committee — comprised of representatives from City Council, the Planning Commission, the Architectural Board of Review, the Historic Landmarks Commission and the Allied Neighborhood Association — will make recommendations on topics like ABR review triggers, neighborhood compatibility definitions, neighbor project notification protocol and potential additional regulations related to floor to area ratios.

Smaller neighborhood workshops will be held to discuss more specific guidelines. Here is the schedule:

Upper East and Downtown: April 7 at 6:30 p.m. in the MacKenzie Park Meeting Room.

Eastside and Westside: April 13 at 6:30 p.m. at the Louise Lowry Davis Center.

Mesa: April 21 at 6:30 p.m. at SHIFCO, 418 Santa Fe Place.

Hillside Areas: April 28 at 6:30 p.m. at the MacKenzie Park Meeting Room.

Northside and Hitchcock: May 12 at 6:30 p.m. at the MacKenzie Park Meeting Room.

For more information contact Heather Baker at 564.5470 or hbaker@ci.santa-barbara.ca.us.

Originally published in South Coast Beacon