Santa Barbara Extends State Street Closure Pending Referendum to Overturn Master Plan

Santa Barbara's downtown State Street will stay closed to vehicles for now, after the City Council voted 5-1 on Tuesday to extend the temporary closure order while a voter referendum challenging the newly approved State Street Master Plan moves through the verification process, the Noozhawk reported.

The decision keeps eight blocks of State Street — the corridor that has served as the city's commercial spine for more than a century — off-limits to cars until voters potentially weigh in on the Master Plan itself. Mayor Randy Rowse voted against the extension and Councilman Eric Friedman abstained in protest, arguing the city could have pursued interim compromises with businesses that want the street reopened.

"My abstention is a protest in the fact that we didn't do what we needed to do when we had the chance," Friedman said.

A Referendum With More Than Enough Signatures

At the center of Tuesday's vote is a referendum petition submitted by the Committee to Reopen State Street, which is backed by Jim Knell, president of SIMA, a private real estate firm. Organizers submitted roughly 8,700 signatures — well beyond the 5,483 required — to challenge the council's Sept. 1 approval of the State Street Master Plan.

If the signatures are certified by county election officials, the council faces a stark choice: repeal the Master Plan ordinance outright or place it before voters. City staff have recommended a special election in the first half of 2027 if the referendum qualifies, according to the staff report. The city also cannot adopt a similar ordinance within one year of a repeal or voter rejection.

The petition process itself has been contentious. Larry Behrendt of Indivisible Santa Barbara told the council signatures were gathered in an "aggressive" way and that many residents didn't understand what they were signing. He urged the council to keep the street closed until the referendum runs its course.

"I'm tired of seeing this city bullied by wealthy landowners who've had every opportunity to participate in the process, same as us, but are using the threat of referendum and litigation to try to force the city's hand," Behrendt said.

The Price Tag of Going Back

The fiscal stakes of reopening — even temporarily — weighed heavily on the council's decision. According to Tess Harris, the city's State Street master planner, reopening the street to vehicles by Dec. 31 would cost an estimated $670,280 in interim work, plus another $868,000 for pavement treatment and permanent restriping.

If the street were reopened before the end of the year and then closed again, the total cost would exceed $1.13 million. Restaurants and businesses along the corridor would also have to remove their parklets and outdoor dining structures at their own expense — a significant burden for establishments that built those facilities during the pandemic era and came to depend on them.

Councilman Mike Jordan summed up the council's predicament bluntly: "All the choices suck." He said the city had been pushed into a defensive posture rather than engaging in meaningful conversations with residents and business owners who felt unheard.

Six Years of Pedestrian-First Downtown

State Street has been closed to vehicles since May 2020, when the council first restricted traffic to give restaurants and retailers room to operate outdoors during the COVID-19 pandemic. What began as an emergency measure was extended repeatedly over the following years as the city embraced a pedestrian-first vision for downtown.

The Master Plan approved in September would make that transformation permanent. The redesign covers the 300 through 1300 blocks and calls for expanded 30-foot-wide sidewalks on both sides of the street flanking two 10-foot travel lanes in the center. Retractable bollards at intersections could allow vehicles — including delivery trucks — during certain hours, and the street could be fully closed for events at other times.

The ambition comes with a steep cost. As of September, the city estimated the project at roughly $9 million per block, a total of about $96 million, with a build-out timeline of up to six years. The city has been pursuing grants but, as of October, had not yet developed a full funding plan — a gap that referendum supporters have pointed to as another reason to pause.

Business Owners Say the Clock Is Ticking

Referendum supporters urged the council to respect the more than 8,000 residents who signed the petition and restore vehicle access.

"The real crisis is the economic damage this closure continues to inflict," said Colleen Macey, owner of Santa Barbara Interiors and an organizer with the State Street Business Alliance. Macey claimed foot traffic and sales tax revenue on State Street have declined while neighboring open streets have seen sales tax growth, and pointed to rising vacancies, saying small businesses are losing tens of thousands of transactions.

Councilwoman Meagan Harmon, whose term is ending, framed the extension as preserving the status quo until voters can speak — but she also reflected candidly on what she called a failure to find a path the community could live with.

"The reason that I feel it's a failure, truly, is because of all the time we are losing to actually implement something that is generational, something that is truly reflective of what this community needs," Harmon said. "I was guilty of it. I didn't want to compromise one inch from the vision I had."

What Comes Next

The State Street vote isn't the only referendum hanging over City Hall. The council was also scheduled Tuesday to consider extending a temporary rent freeze pending a separate referendum challenging the October approval of the city's rent-stabilization ordinance; that item was continued to Nov. 17.

If both referendum petitions are certified, the council must either repeal the respective ordinances or send them to the ballot, leaving two of the city's most consequential recent policies in voters' hands.

For now, downtown shoppers, diners and business owners will see the promenade as they have since 2020: closed to cars, and waiting — at least until the county completes its signature review and the council decides whether State Street's future goes to the voters.

This article is based on reporting by [Noozhawk](https://www.noozhawk.com/santa-barbara-extends-state-street-closure-pending-referendum-to-overturn-master-plan/).