Ed St. George has
yet to get canonized, but late this Tuesday afternoon, he performed at least
two miracles in front of the Santa Barbara City Council. First, St.
George — one of the biggest landlords in Isla Vista and throughout the South
Coast — packed the chambers with supporters who testified so glowingly of him
that anyone might have expected him to be assumed into heaven. More
prosaically, St. George managed to forestall what looked like the certain
defeat for the bitterly fought three-story hotel he’s proposing for the 300
block of West Montecito Street.
Thanks only to a
last-minute change of heart by Councilmember Meagan Harmon, St. George was
given a one-month reprieve to reduce the size of his proposed hotel, change the
architectural style, and come up with a plan to offset the loss of the four
rental housing units that now occupy the site. But for Harmon, the proposal
would have been denied as per the city’s Planning Commission 5-1 vote to
deep-six it.
At the heart of
the Planning Commission’s denial was housing. Planning commissioners Sheila
Lodge and Leslie Wiscomb objected that the project would eliminate four
desperately needed rental units and replace them with new hotel rooms, of
which, they claimed, there is a glut. To approve such a project, they argued,
would clearly violate the tenets of “sound community planning.” They also
objected that the dramatically modern project — 45 feet high in
places — would dwarf and clash with the immediate neighborhood.
St. George
appealed the commission’s decision to the City Council, arguing the denial had
been arbitrary. His supporters — more than a few of whom were
tenants — complained City Hall was violating the process by changing the
rules midstream on a project that would improve the values of nearby properties
and revitalize a rundown neighborhood. The proposed hotel, with its coffee shop
and rooftop patio area, conformed to existing zoning, they noted. St. George,
who did not speak Tuesday, sought no modifications.
Where St. George
impressively packed the chambers with supporters who said things like “Ed’s a
visionary” and “Ed is a really good-hearted guy,” his critics gathered 500
signatures on a petition against his project and suggested more unscrupulous
intent. St. George, they argued, had played the system to secure permits for 32
hotel rooms, far more than the 15 housing units he could have gotten according
to existing zoning rules. But his hotel rooms, they argued, were much bigger
than most — more than 500 square feet. Some included adjoining rooms and
kitchens. St. George, they suggested, would quickly convert the hotel rooms
into housing units and fill them with City College students, exactly as he had
done, they claimed, with a nearby vacation rental he owns.
In addition, they
noted the plans approved by the Architectural Board of Review (ABR) differed in
key details from the plans rejected by the Planning Commission. To the extent
anyone violated the city’s process, they insisted, it was St. George, not the
planning commissioners. City planners dismissed concerns, stating St. George
had played by City Hall’s rules and regulations.
Ultimately, the
councilmembers were torn. Jason Dominguez, Mayor Cathy Murillo, and Randy Rowse
believed St. George’s project should be allowed because it complied with
existing zoning, though Rowse and Dominguez had qualms about the size and
style. Initially, it appeared there were four votes to kill the project:
Kristen Sneddon, Oscar Gutierrez, Eric Friedman, and Harmon.
Friedman cited
planning scripture chapter and verse. But Harmon’s opposition was based in part
on aesthetics and design, as well as housing. When it was clear the proposal
could be conditioned to require the lost housing be replaced elsewhere and that
St. George could modify the more intrusive design features, she changed her
position.
Friedman argued
there was no way St. George could re-engineer the project and engage the
community in a meaningful way in just a few weeks, one of which being
Thanksgiving. Harmon countered that a month would be enough time to see if St.
George was on the right track. At that point, she said, the project could be
sent back to the ABR for further review.
The
project is next slated for council review on December 17.