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Downtown Santa Barbara says outdoor seating has done wonders for businesses, but notes this is a ‘transition period’ after new fire lane rule KENNETH SONG/NEWS-PRESS PHOTOSA beach cruiser adorns The Cruisery restaurant’s parklet on State Street in downtown Santa Barbara. “There’s a desire by the community to keep downtown vibrant and to grow what was developed over the recent years,” said Robin Elander, executive director of Downtown Santa Barbara.
Local businesses are preparing for an abrupt change after the Santa Barbara City Council’s decision to widen the center fire lane on the State Street promenade.
The council on Tuesday approved staff recommendations to extend the emergency fire lane from 14 feet to 20 feet as of March 8. This means that some businesses will have to rework their outdoor seating to appease the new stipulations.
But even as State Street businesses deal with the rule, Downtown Santa Barbara sees the promenade as a success that has helped businesses during the pandemic.
Parklets stand on State Street In front of Sandbar and Holdren’s. Parklets have remained popular for outdoor dining even after the resumption of indoor dining.“We are in a transition period,” Robin Elander, executive director of Downtown Santa Barbara, a nonprofit, told the News-Press about last week’s city council vote on the fire lane. “Some businesses will have to reduce the size of outdoor seating to be no larger than nine feet from the curb on State Street.”
Outdoor seating has been seen as essential to State Street businesses ever since an emergency ordinance was passed that allowed them to expand their space onto the street. Dining and doing business outdoors allowed customers to interact with local spots while preventing the spread of COVID-19.
Before restaurants got the greenlight for indoor dining, the outdoor seating allowed customers to eat meals outside the restaurants. After indoor dining resumed, the parklets have remained popular with customers who preferred to eat outside.
Other than the expanded fire lane, city staff also proposed that all businesses on State Street be “portable,” meaning equipment and furnishings can be removed within 24 hours without the use of mechanized equipment.Given the short notice of these proposed changes, the city council agreed to defer implementing portability to a later date.
State Street businesses with parklets are preparing for a new rule widening the center fire lane.Mrs. Elander told the News-Press that outdoor business has done wonders for the local places on State Street, and Downtown Santa Barbara plans on investing in this space despite the scramble to prioritize the fire lane.
“Downtown Santa Barbara is working in partnership with the city to start a master planning process for the entire downtown area,” Mrs. Elander said. “This will study circulation and all of the elements associated with downtown to determine if they want to keep (lower State Street) closed.”
A State Street advisory committee was developed to oversee the future of the changing downtown area.
“There’s a desire by the community to keep downtown vibrant and to grow what was developed over the recent years,” Mrs. Elander said.
To protect the momentum behind State Street, Downtown Santa Barbara is offering resources to local businesses during this transitional period.
“We have a ‘shop local’ downtown campaign that we’re revamping for State Street businesses,” Mrs. Elander said. “We’re also developing quite a bit of new programming along State Street to accompany some of the changes.”
Despite the incurring stipulations, the executive director said that Downtown Santa Barbara is working with local businesses to create partnerships and troubleshoot issues that are expected to occur at the promenade throughout these changes.
email: fmcfarland@newspress.com
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