Buellton Vice Mayor Dave King admittedly got “passionate” about the future of on-street parking, while speaking unfavorably about an upcoming mixed-use development in town.
The 1.22-acre complex that will consist of both commercial businesses and residential units was recently approved by the Buellton City Council in a 4-1 vote, with King dissenting.
“You’re going to have parking issues, no matter how you slice it,” King said during the City Council’s March 24 meeting. “There are going to be cars spilled all over Avenue of Flags.”
The town plaza-esque project, known as The 518, will be located on the corner of Avenue of Flags and 2nd Street, and the city’s Planning Commission unanimously recommended the project for approval prior to the City Council meeting. A combination of single-car spaces and private garages will be assigned to development residents, but King said he believes that most residents will use their garages for storage and park their cars on the street instead.
“It would be very naive for anyone in this room to think that people are not going to use that garage for storage,” King said. “That car is gonna spill out onto the street.”
After City Manager Scott Wolfe proposed that the City Council require the owners of The 518 to provide “signage to regulate on-street parking on Avenue of Flags, adjacent to the project site,” with time restrictions, King argued that the added enforcement would lead to a separate problem.
“We’re going to take some of our law enforcement resources and they’re going to become meter maids,” said King, who then described a hypothetical scenario where a police deputy on the parking beat is stuck “sitting out for an hour waiting for a tow truck when he could be out patrolling our streets, doing the job that he was hired to do.”
Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Jeff Greene spoke during the March 24 meeting and said he agrees with King that on-street parking problems are bound to come up once The 518 is operational, but he wouldn’t label that concern as “a glaring issue.”
Councilmember Elysia Lewis expressed support for The 518, and described the residential options at the development as providing a “starting out point” for families and young professionals who can’t afford to buy a house in Buellton.
“I have numerous stories of family members and friends that are still living with their parents, and they’re 30. It’s not because they can’t afford it. It’s not because they don’t want it. It’s because there is literally nothing available for them,” Lewis said. “We have people living here that have grown up here that can’t progress, and this is one of those opportunities where you give a little to get a little bit for those people so they have options.”
While responding to Lewis’ comment, King said he believes the development will be “a disservice to the people that already live here.”
“You’re going to have more people living in those apartments because it’s going to be cheap, and they’re going to live there but they’re also going to bring the two cars with them, and possibly high school kids, as well as roommates,” King said. “I understand your point about people not being able to live some place, but it’s like we’re going to sell some really cheap tickets to a three-day cruise to Mexico and we’re going to overload the boat, and it sinks halfway to Baja California because we overloaded the boat. Well, that wasn’t very prudent, was it?”
Mayor Holly Sierra said “we beat this horse to death” before motioning to accept the final plans for the development, which was approved along with an adjustment regarding street signage and on-street parking restrictions.
This article appears in Mar 31 – Apr 7, 2022.