HomeMy WebLinkAbout1/22/2024 Item 4a, Amini
David Amini <
To:Advisory Bodies
Subject:Cultural Heritage Committee 1/22/2024 Item 4a. Comments
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Hello Commissioners,
I am a resident of the Old Town Historic District. I live within walking distance of the project site at 1925 Santa Barbara.
I fully support the project and urge the Committee to recommend that the Community Development Director approve
this project. I have outlined my reasons below. Thank you for your consideration.
HOUSING
This project will provide four units of much-needed housing in a neighborhood of the City that best supports this type of
infill development, with connections to transit, nearby jobs, and shopping within walking distance. The 1-bedroom/loft
layout of the units are a perfect size for Downtown workers, and included parking ensures no impact on the surrounding
neighborhood streets. Expansion of housing production, with an emphasis on affordable and workforce housing is one
of the major City goals. Discretionary design reviews based on objective design standards, such as this one, of infill
projects cost significant amounts of time and money and jeopardize forward progress. There are numerous state laws
passed within the last 5-10 years which discourage or ban discretionary design review of infill projects just like this one
in the interest of speeding up housing production to alleviate the housing crisis statewide. I urge the Committee to use
their power to assist in the approval of this project and help to achieve the City's goals.
DESIGN CONFORMITY
As shown in the design drawings, the Santa Barbara street frontage is a mix of existing bungalows, older industrial and
commercial buildings, and newer mixed-use developments. The Architectural Character section of the Railroad District
Design Guidelines outline a " simplicity of form and detailing" with a mix of "simple, yet elegant houses and practical,
industrial-oriented commercial buildings".
The first page of the Architectural Guidelines section dictates that "simple, rectilinear building forms should
predominate." The proposed design is consistent with this element of the Guidelines, providing a purposeful massing
free of excess variety in form. The single story massing at street frontage helps provide a smooth transition to the larger
residential buildings behind.
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The staff report's concerns over the asymmetric profile of the buildings created by the uneven roof heights and offset
alignment of the buildings seems unfounded. The downward sloping nature of the site will create a street elevation that
will make the roof lines impossible to see from the sidewalk, and even from across the street it would be impossible to
distinguish the differing rooflines and buildings. There is no physical vantage point from the human scale that would
make the rooflines or building faces appear as starkly as they do in the architectural elevations.
The type and grouping of the windows is consistent with the Guidelines, which emphasize grouping of windows
together, symmetry and verticality. The storefront height at the street elevation extends the full height of the building,
with transom windows above the doors. The dominance of glazing will provide an attractive street frontage to
pedestrians and motorists, inviting them to patronize whatever business occupies the building. The windows on the
upper floors of the residential units emulate the double-hung design typical of bungalows in the neighborhood.
The concern over a "lack of overall detail" seems to clash directly with the Guidelines, which state that "commercial
buildings generally have simple detailing with little ornamentation or decoration". When considering that the front
building uses metal paneling, providing ornamentation and details is difficult to achieve and adds significant challenges
in flashing, waterproofing, and transitions. I believe that the plaster and siding finishes specified for the residential
buildings will be attractive. It is worth noting that the older homes flanking the property have very little in the way of
ornamentation and detail - the bungalow to the south has no window trim and very simple 4x4 columns on the porch.
There also are very thoughtful details such as the natural wooden entry door, standing seam roof, and a green screen to
mask the subterranean parking from view.
CONCLUSION
This project will transform a highly underutilized parcel into a valuable asset for the community, providing critically
important housing as well as space for a small business in a vibrant, active, dense City neighborhood. The design
concerns posed by the staff report are not significant enough to require any level of redesign - this building will easily fit
into the rhythm of the Santa Barbara street frontage and echoes the simplicity in form and character of surrounding
buildings in the Railroad District. I urge the Committee to recommend that the Director approve this project as
consistent with the guidelines and help to achieve the City's goals.
Best,
David Amini
david.amini1@gmail.com
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