A Vision for Santa Barbara

Prepared by
Santa Barbara For All

Santa Barbara for All is a coalition of engaged citizens with a passionate concern for the future of Santa Barbara. We believe the city must take into consideration a wide range of issues affecting our community including the possibility that the future may bring challenges that will require change in the way we live.


Vision

In order to fully participate in the General Plan Update process we have carefully considered some of the critical issues that we believe must be incorporated into the community’s blueprint for the future if it is to allow for the establishment of a truly sustainable community. Following is a preamble to our recommendations for the policy options being considered for adoption into the General Plan.

For a community to be sustainable individuals need to work together for the good of future generations. The three principle aspects of sustainability are protection of the environment, economic well being, and social equity. A thriving community balances these three principles and provides for the needs of all of its members - from its least influential to its most influential - and its future generations.

Our General Plan is the blueprint for the establishment of a vision and policies that commit our community to both preserving its uniqueness while allowing for it to evolve and mature as the world evolves. To be a responsible member of the global community, Santa Barbara must assume its share of responsibility for the regional, statewide and worldwide environmental and social concerns.

Guiding Principles

In order to achieve that vision, we believe that the General Plan must encompass the following guiding principles:

• We must establish a community that maintains its diversity – ethnic, racial, occupational, demographic, and economic. We do not wish to be a town of “the newly wed and nearly dead”, nor a spa for the wealthy. We need policies and programs that help us maintain our diverse character.

• We must strive to attain sustainability – that is, living in a way that allows future generations to live here, too; and “living within our resources” so that we do not contribute to the destruction of the planet’s environment.

• We must establish a jobs/housing balance to the greatest extent reasonable and possible– that is; to house those who do the economic and civic work of the community within the south coast region’s borders – and not to export our housing needs to adjoining areas.

• We must apply the basic principles of livable communities by balancing Housing, Open Space and Transportation planning in a holistic and integrated manner. We must accommodate the growth that our society requires in a manner that uses our precious land resources wisely and efficiently making it possible for people to meet their daily needs without requiring the need for an automobile.

• We must maintain the aesthetic values that characterize the design, architecture and visual appeal of our community – honoring our history, but always being open and willing to evolve to meet the pressing needs of the future.

• Maximum participation by the public in the political decisions that affect their lives.

Recommended Policies

Additionally, we must envision a Santa Barbara that truly incorporates all the above principles, and strive to lay out the policies and strategies needed to achieve that vision. We believe that a future for our city should include:

• Zoning and land use ordinances that reflect “form-based zoning”, making community needs and uses a factor in land use regulation of specific sites. Form based zoning allows us to pre-define the general mass and scale of buildings while allowing the flexibility needed to create a truly beautiful built environment.

• No resident living more than one-half mile from a transit stop, a park or recreational area, an elementary school and a basic food store.

• Allow for a natural growth rate of approximately 1% per year.

• A community where travel by automobile is primarily for long distances (on vacations or weekends), and mass transit, biking and walking meet everyday needs; where parking needs are met by remote lots, instead of downtown real estate

• A community that houses nearly all of its workforce, with sufficient housing for moderate, low and very low income households, and an end to homelessness.

• Recognition of unique neighborhood needs and interests and the shaping of distinctive policies for each area.

As we move toward an uncertain future bringing many new challenges one thing is certain, change is inevitable. Our community will continue to be affected by the changes in our region, in the State, and in the world. Our General Plan must include the kind of flexibility needed to adapt to these forces of change.

We are faced with diminishing fossil fuel, water and food resources and the ongoing effects of global warming. By defining a reasonable amount of growth for our community and ensuring that this growth occurs in a sustainable fashion, we can successfully adapt and evolve. By creating a sustainable, fossil-free, self-sufficient Santa Barbara, we can serve our present needs and those of future generations.

For more information please contact Mickey Flacks at mflacks@cox.net or Alex Pujo at alex@pujo.net.