Affordable and Workforce Housing

SB CAN advocates for affordable and workforce housing within urban limit lines, near jobs and transportation centers. The development of needed housing should occur in a manner that conserves significant wildlife habitat, conserves land and preserves natural resources. We seek to promote the kind of responsible, efficient and compact development that is transit-oriented and preserves green space. “Green” building techniques and low impact landscaping should be utilized to the maximum possible extent.

2008 Housing Projects

Affordable Housing with Mental Health Support Services

As a member of the General Fund Fairness Campaign, SB CAN, along with other community activists, urged County Supervisors not to cut funding for the Alchohol, Drug, and Mental Health Services Department (ADMHS), which provides low cost housing for people who need mental health services. Studies show that permanent housing with supportive services is more cost effective than "housing" local residents in high service facilities like the jail, emergency room, psychiatric health facilities, or institutes for mental disease. In June, the Board of Supervisors voted to restore funding for ADMHS services.

Santa Barbara Height Initiative

SB CAN has resolved to oppose the Height Limit Initiative should it come to ballot.  Affordable housing often requires a higher number of units per acre, and the proposed limit would prevent such development.  In addition, density within the urban core discourages sprawl into undeveloped areas and encourages a non-car-centirc culture by creating a more vibrant and walkable downtown. However, we support efforts to formulate compromise or alternative measures that would provide for height limitation with exceptions for projects of public benefit, including the provision of affordable housing.

UCSB-Long Range Development Plan

While we applaud the university for housing their own growth, we believe that there are significant flaws and problems that have been overlooked, and solution/mitigation measures that have not been sufficiently explored.

The following are some issues raised by SB CAN:
1. Insufficient justification for an additional 5000 students.( A key alternative project would involve a 3000 student increase)

2. Overlooking the replacement of 550 faculty in the plan, in addition to the calculated 250 new faculty.

3. UCSB water demand exceeds the known availability of water. Equally important, the plan would result in indirect growth effects that would unavoidably increase the jobs/housing imbalance in this region. It would also unavoidably worsen traffic in the surrounding area.

4. Housing plan and the construction of housing is not concurrent with the timeline for the expected growth.

5. The jobs/housing imbalance increases commuting. The EIR woefully misestimates these effects by describing on 6.0-5 commuting increases from out of county, not accounting for the main commuting population which travels to the south coast from north county.

6. Returning to the smaller enrollment growth alternative, we were disappointed to see that this alterative was coupled with a reduction in the estimates of campus housing development. Another alternative not mentioned would be to retain the housing plans of the existing LRDP with a reduction in new enrollment and staff hires. This alternative if it were adopted would allow the university to house a not only all newly added students, staff and faculty but provide affordable housing options for existing faculty, staff, undergraduates and graduate students. It might also provide an opportunity for the university to offer retired faculty and staff housing options that would open up further housing in the wider community.
  

2007 Housing Projects

Veronica Meadows Project in Santa Barbara

In January 2007, SB CAN supported a lawsuit filed by Citizens Planning Association (CPA) against City of Santa Barbara and the owners of the proposed Veronica Meadows luxury housing project along Las Positas Road and Arroyo Burro in Santa Barbara.  The lawsuit was based on concerns that not all reasonable and feasible project alternatives were adequately explored or mitigated, thus causing unnecessary impacts on the creek environment and traffic in this heavily impacted corridor in Las Positas Valley.

In addition, SB CAN was concerned that the community would be subject to significant adverse impacts for the sake of expensive multi-million-dollar homes that the City had no obligation to approve. SB CAN is committed to supporting projects that provide more of the workforce and low-income housing that our community really needs while addressing corresponding environmental and transportation issues. There is no shortage of luxury housing in our county to justify the negative impacts posed by this project.