As Santa Barbara’s experimental rental housing program nears its close, the public has weighed in on its successes, failures, and next-step recommendations. The city held its second workshop at the Santa Barbara Central Library’s Faulkner Gallery Wednesday to allow residents to voice their input on the program.
After 40 years with little to no rentals being built in the city because of high land costs, the Average Unit-size Density (AUD) program was approved in 2013 as a way to incentivize developers to build more housing by allowing greater building density for rental apartments. The program has an initial duration of eight years or until 250 new units are constructed — it’s currently six years in, and 223 new units have been built.
For the most part, public commenters supported the idea of moving the AUD program away from Milpas Street and into the downtown area on top of existing businesses. Many people were split, however, on proposed changes to parking requirements.