SANTA BARBARA, Calif.—Professional Stylist Louis John has seen La Cumbre Plaza transform time and time again, but he says business has been tough. “La Cumbre Plaza, there's a lot of stores that are empty and it's hard to bring people here,” said the “Wardrobe Wizard.” That’s why Louis decided to take his styling business remote. Some are hopeful that a new housing project will liven up what they say is a ghost town. But they say it needs to come with amenities for the entire community. “Having a place where people can come together like college students, high school students, young adults and professionals to, you know, bond over some snacks or some food or some games, things like that, where they can enrich their lives instead of just shopping, said Santa Barbara resident Sam Hodge.
Riviera Dairy Property LLC, the property owner, wants to put up two buildings with a total of 443 rental units, ranging from studios to 3-bedrooms. The project is slated for Santa Barbara’s old Sears building and surrounding areas.
“I’m curious to see what the developers will do. I love the idea that there will be residential here as well as retail because that'll keep more people in this area,” said Louis. Still, some are worried this will add more traffic to an already congested area. “You can't add, you know, hundreds and hundreds of of residents and not think that it's going to have an impact,” said Hope Elementary School District Superintendent Anne Hubbard.
The superintendent of the Hope Elementary School District has other concerns. Anne Hubbard says the influx of new families will mean more students, but not necessarily more resources or property tax income to support them. “When you add new students, it doesn't mean that there's more funding that comes. So if I serve 900 students, which is about what we're serving now or 9000, and my funding level stays the same, you can see that it will completely change how I can serve our students here and Hope School District,” said Hubbard. The Santa Barbara Planning Commission reviewed the proposal this week. The developer can now submit a formal application. There's also a separate proposal down the line to add nearly 700 units where the Macy's building now sits. “My hope is, is that there's some mechanism by which the city and the county can step in and hold the developers accountable for mitigating the impact to the district,” said Hubbard.
A Planned Housing Project will create hundreds of new rental units at La Cumbre Plaza, sparks concerns for many locals News Channel 3-12.
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