SANTA BARBARA, Calif.-The Santa Barbara City Council received a progress report and provided direction on the Grand Paseo design framework on Tuesday.
City Administrator Kelly McAdoo said the council also provided direction on the short term plan the for project area.
Councilmembers heard hours of public comments about whether to bring back cars to some of the blocks.
Mayor Randy Rowse said he is “not in love with cars,” but he believed the closure of State Street has come at a cost.
He said he just got work that State Street is about to lose a CVS store and could lose the Apple Store next.
Rowse liked a pilot program idea proposed by Alejandra Gutierrez that would reopen the street to cars to see if that would bring locals and more business back, but four council members spoke in favor of extending the area that is without cars as long as attention is paid to public safety.
The city staff presentation included a graphic recommending the creation of an E-bike safety working group to address safety.