It should come as no surprise that the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort’s recently proposed expansion has stirred up controversy. This is just another chapter in a longstanding Santa Barbara tradition: one in which environmentally challenged developments can eventually be made acceptable, but only if the developer is willing to negotiate — sometimes for years — with government staff and activist organizations.
Davy Crockett may have “Kilt him a b’ar when he was only 3,” but Fess Parker — who played the role in the popular 1950s TV series — learned that building a hotel on Santa Barbara’s beachfront could be an even bigger challenge.
Fifty years ago, when the property was owned by American Communities and Southern Pacific, a massive hotel and shopping center was proposed for the 36-acre site. In order to provide the development with direct access to the beach, Cabrillo Boulevard would have to be rerouted — behind the hotel complex. The City Council, dominated by the business community, loved the idea. Santa Barbara’s nascent environmental movement, galvanized by the historic Union Oil platform blowout three years earlier, hated it.