The Santa Barbara City Council trudged through the lengthy plan to build rental units in the heart of downtown Tuesday, a move that could both chip away at the housing crisis and help revitalize the dying State Street businesses.
The council spent hours working with the Planning Commission to discuss and take straw votes on the 22 recommended changes from city staff in November, when it unanimously agreed to move the city’s experimental high-density rental-housing program to the downtown area and away from the Milpas Corridor.
The council did not get through the list in November, but completed their votes without the Planning Commission Tuesday. The most disputed issues involved building height limits and protections for the city’s historic districts. The two topics seemingly confused most of the councilmembers, though.