Preserve Our City’s Character. 
Santa Barbara is beautiful, and has been built our under the existing height limit of 60’.  We have buildings with various heights, roof types and designs, and that’s what makes Santa Barbara so visually appealing.  Camarillo has a 35’ height limit.  We don’t want Santa Barbara to look like Camarillo.

Protect Cottage Hospital. 
The new Cottage Hospital buildings (currently under construction) are over 45 feet in height, as is the existing building at Bath and Pueblo.  Since Measure B does not include a “grandfather clause”, those buildings could not be rebuilt if destroyed in a fire or earthquake.

Preserve Our Architectural Heritage.
Our City is graced with beloved buildings that are taller than the proposed 40 and 45 foot height limits, including the Lobero Theatre, Trinity Church, the Masonic Building and the Arlington Theatre.  Under Measure B, none of these landmarks could be rebuilt if destroyed in a disaster. 

Preserve Our Ability to Make Balanced Design Decisions.
Our City has traditionally considered a number of design criteria in deciding whether a building should be approved, including size, bulk, scale, setbacks, roof design and height.  By imposing a one-size-fits-all mandate for one of these criteria, Measure B will handcuff our design review boards and reduce our ability to design and approve beautiful buildings.  The height issue should be discussed in the broader context of the ongoing General Plan update, not through a separate ballot measure.

Preserve Our Open Space by Reducing Urban Sprawl.
Imposing lower building heights in the urban core will increase development pressure on the Gaviota Coast and Carpinteria farmlands.

Protect our Suburban Neighborhoods.
Imposing lower building heights in the urban core will increase development pressure on the Mesa, San Roque, and other residential neighborhoods.

Protect our Workforce. 
Currently 30,000 commuters drive every day from Ventura, Lompoc and other distant towns.  Many of them would live in Santa Barbara if there were housing here they could afford.  Imposing a lower downtown height limit will make it more difficult to build housing for working families. 

Protect the Environment. 
The commuting caused by the housing shortage results in traffic congestion, air pollution, and fossil fuel consumption.  We should be doing more to reduce these environmental impacts by creating a more sustainable community, which includes building housing closer to workplaces, particularly in the urban core.  People who live near their work can bike, walk, or ride the bus.

Protect The Local Economy.
Local employers find it difficult to recruit and retain employees because of the high cost of housing.  Lowering building heights will make it even harder to tackle our housing shortage, further hurting local businesses and our local economy. 

Protect Reasonable Property Owner Expectations.
The 60 foot height limit for downtown property has been in effect since 1972.  People bought their properties in reasonable reliance on those rules.