City Council to Review New Police Station Locations

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City Council to Review New Police Station Locations
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Source: City of Santa Barbara

As Santa Barbarans, we're taking on a big challenge -- the creation of a new police station. Our existing station is outdated, too small, and hasn't been earthquake retrofitted. One of the first steps for a new station is selecting the location.

We'll review site considerations with City Council on Tuesday, September 17. Visit the project website to review all the site analysis documents and more.

Our police station is a busy place. Currently, it takes four separate buildings to house operations. Today’s facilities have not been earthquake retrofitted (as required by California’s Essential Services Buildings Seismic Safety Act of 1986). There are insufficient bathrooms for the 22 female officers, cramped interview rooms that are too close to witness areas, and storage constraints that result in a waste of significant time merely getting to equipment.

Santa Barbara Police strive to be a mix of highly skilled officers and effective community partners to help us maintain safe neighborhoods and beach-town charm. In 2017, with the passage of Measure C, Santa Barbarans chose to create a new police station to address the current inadequacies and to support both the special equipment necessities and everyday patrol needs.

The first step in the process is site selection. Key considerations include size, parking, zoning, access to high call areas, conflicts inherent to each site, and the costs associated if the site is not already owned by the City.

Map and table of sites considered for the police station. Please follow the text-based site selection table link for a machine readable table.

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a-1576034283
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Sep 12, 2019 12:59 PM
City Council to Review New Police Station Locations

12:41 - want to know of another "established and successful Santa Barbara program?" It's call the SB Police Dept. and it's way more important than your market.

a-1576034283
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Sep 12, 2019 12:24 PM
City Council to Review New Police Station Locations

Can someone tell me why the farmer's market can't simply relocate to a different parking lot for the ONE day a week it is open for a few hours? This is silly.

mm1970
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Sep 13, 2019 12:54 PM
City Council to Review New Police Station Locations

It seems like the issue is size - other parking lots are not the right size, with other local parking options (the Ortega lot is very convenient). I wonder why they couldn't just shut down State Street though? I would consider State St to be as convenient as the current location.

a-1576034283
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Sep 13, 2019 09:15 AM
City Council to Review New Police Station Locations

Former Mayor SheilaLodge and dozens testified before Council that Farmers Market has moved before, and loyal buyers find and buy. Council is inept: politically fearful of making any decision beyond straws. Build the Police Station downtown where it’s needed between Westside and Eastside Neighborhoods, Central to public schools. Vote in leaders not wimps.

SantaBarbaraObserver
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Sep 12, 2019 12:55 PM
City Council to Review New Police Station Locations

There really is no logical reason. Instead, its emotional garbage fueled by a few people's nostalgia. Its a parking lot! A asphalt covered lot with oil stains and feces... It has terrible parking, limited space for new vendors and a park across the street that is filled with drug addicts, bums and dirty needles that prick little kids who happen to fall down... But to some bored people with too much time on their hands, its the holiest site in town and must remain a single day 4hour market or else! In this case the 'else' is $20,000,000 in delays added costs and overages.

a-1576034283
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Sep 12, 2019 11:25 AM
City Council to Review New Police Station Locations

Seems like a no-brainer.... Cota. The public need for a police station far outweighs public need for a farmer's market. Move the market, it's transitory by it's very nature, so why can't they find a new parking lot? Sorry to those who like going there, but it really shouldn't be too hard to move the temporary market to a new spot. Kind of nuts that we're even debating this.....

a-1576034283
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Sep 12, 2019 12:38 PM
City Council to Review New Police Station Locations

12:28 - sure maybe a little condescending, but it's nothing compared to the audacity of expecting the police to give up a prime location for their station just because you don't want to move your temporary market to a different location for the one day a week it operates.

Mesarats
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Sep 12, 2019 11:22 AM
City Council to Review New Police Station Locations

So Sears is in a active fault zone, but it’s ok for high density housing. That makes as much sense as redevelopment of industrial space located in the projected sea rise projections. They keep approving projects, yet the Sea Level Rise Adaptation Plan Subcommittee has cancelled every meeting since January 2019. Walkable? The police who walk the downtown are a small percentage of the force, yet it would make sense to have a substation there. As far as people who travel by foot to the department, one would hope there is data to support it is significant enough to be a factor in location. Look at the mass density going on upper State. Earl Warren makes sense given the under utilized space that is sitting empty. Also freeway access because so few live here. In 2012 of the 140 police then, only 16 lived in Santa Barbara. Then you have support staff who can’t afford to live here.

a-1576034283
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Sep 12, 2019 11:55 AM
City Council to Review New Police Station Locations

MESARATS - I think "walkable" refers to whether police can walk from the station to the courthouse to appear for hearings. There is a huge number of officers making trips to the courthouse on a daily basis. If not walkable, that means these officers will have to drive, thus putting more cars on the road and more pressure on parking.

a-1576034283
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Sep 12, 2019 10:56 AM
City Council to Review New Police Station Locations

Why can’t we move the Farmers Market to State Street like Tuesdays? If De La Guerra is redone (and hobos truly banished), then I think that would also be a great fit. I don’t supports moving the FM to Sears lot or SBHS. Let’s keep it truly downtown and somewhere central, with character. SBHS is a traffic nightmare with stop sign, etc. Downtown FM and Cora St. Police for the win. What happens with the old building? Not going to be popular idea around here but it could be very cool repurposed and retrofitted as condos!

yacht rocked
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Sep 12, 2019 10:53 AM
City Council to Review New Police Station Locations

Sears is a great solution. In addition to other points posted by others here, there's relatively fewer impacted residential neighbors, plenty of space for vehicle storage, maintenance yard, emergency helo pad, can be secured in emergency more easily than other proposed locations, etc. Space for admin offices (including SBFD), emergency ops, backup generator/solar panels, and future needs.

Factotum
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Sep 12, 2019 11:00 AM
City Council to Review New Police Station Locations

What is great about having city taxpayers purchase this "Sears" location, as well as getting an agreement of all the current property owners to sell it to the city taxpayers? High price to pay for its alleged "convenience", when in fact the city owned Cota Lot ticks all the right boxes right now, except for being the current location of the once a week Farmers Market. Do city taxpayers want to pay off the purchase of the Sears location for decades into the future, just to accommodate those who shop at the Farmers Market once a week? I hope the Farmers Market fans can be a little or a lot more flexible for everyone's best interests. It will be a long time before the actual construction gets underway - plenty of time for people to get used to a new and better Farmers Market location.

SantaBarbaraObserver
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Sep 12, 2019 10:14 AM
City Council to Review New Police Station Locations

Unbelievable that this is still being discussed. Build the new station in the Cota lot. Start tomorrow. Only in Santa Barbara would a Farmer’s market, in a parking lot cause untold delays and dollars to an essential operation like a police headquarters. Why do we pander to the vocal and tiny minority? It’s utterly ridiculous that it takes this long and so many meetings to get anything done here. Not everyone deserves a voice in these decisions, stop placating and pandering to every opposing opinion. Build it now!

a-1576034283
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Sep 12, 2019 03:39 PM
City Council to Review New Police Station Locations

Puh-leeze. You think cops are going to walk from Cota to the Courts and back? It's at least a 7-block walk each way. Of course they're not going to walk that. Stop being silly about it.

SantaBarbaraObserver
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Sep 12, 2019 12:45 PM
City Council to Review New Police Station Locations

a-1568317048 - What a ridiculous statement. Put the Saturday FM on State just like Tuesday's. It will draw more people to the street on the weekend and the area has already proven itself fully capable of handling the traffic and the parking. FYI it is 2019. The whole idea of leaving State St for car traffic so that the shops are visible to the passing motorist is asinine and outdated. Shut down State street to ALL traffic, everyday and move the FM there permanently. Solves every problem in one solution. Except the fact that there are too many bored people with too much nostalgia, that spend too much time inserting themselves into the business of the city causing us all headaches and expense.

a-1576034283
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Sep 12, 2019 12:36 PM
City Council to Review New Police Station Locations

at 12:24 - again with the cops driving special electric vehicles to and from the courthouse... WHY? Why should the cops have to purchase (with our tax $$) and maintain a separate fleet of vehicles just for the trips to/from the courthouse just so you don't have to move a farmer's market that is only open a few hours ONE DAY a week to a different location? Why does everyone have to make adjustments just for the farmer's market?

a-1576034283
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Sep 12, 2019 12:24 PM
City Council to Review New Police Station Locations

REX. The "little" neighborhood swap meet is a mess for parking. You have never been, have you? The noise and vehicle fumes already impact the neighbors. Where are all the Farmers Market shoppers supposed to park? There's no way the two could be combined. Leave downtown spots alone, put the police station at old Sears spot. Far better to have a nice roomy area for SBPD than have condos there. (Ach, the traffic is already horrendous at La Cumbre and State.) Let the officers who have to get to court commute via electric vehicles.

a-1576034283
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Sep 12, 2019 12:23 PM
City Council to Review New Police Station Locations

@12:19 - what foot traffic do you think is more important to our community? The foot traffic at a farmers market or at the SBPD station? Also, why should the police officers have to ride "electric carts and bicycles" (a ton more $$$) to the courthouse from Sears or EWFG? Why burden those who are here to protect us? Why can't the farmer's market move?

a-1576034283
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Sep 12, 2019 12:19 PM
City Council to Review New Police Station Locations

"Tiny minority?" You obviously don't go to the Farmers Market. Or know how many vendors there are local. I guarantee you the Cota St. FM gets more foot traffic on one Saturday than the SBPD station does all week. As for officers walking to Courthouse (actually walking to bldg across from there), why not provide them with electric carts much like the ones Parking Enforcement uses? Or even electrific bicycles?

ZeroHawk
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Sep 12, 2019 11:21 AM
City Council to Review New Police Station Locations

there is a flea market there saturdays. SBHS isn't a good location as most of the shoppers live downtown, like myself. we walk there. the majority of shoppers there, walk from home. this would easily kill the money the farmers make

ZeroHawk
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Sep 12, 2019 11:20 AM
City Council to Review New Police Station Locations

well, clearly you don't seem to be a shopper there. the market has been there for...almost as far as i can recall. it generates a lot of money, it's busier than ralphs saturday morning. they don't need a PD downtown. it can be anywhere. i go to the farmers market each saturday and it's VERY busy with 100s of shoppers. the voters won't allow it. there's already a petition that's gathered more signatures than it even needs, to prevent it.

REX OF SB
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Sep 12, 2019 10:26 AM
City Council to Review New Police Station Locations

Spot on, SB Observer! The Farmers Market could very easily relocate to the SBHS parking lot(s) on Saturdays. There's already some kind of little weekend neighborhood swap meet thing going on there, but it could either relocate or be absorbed into the Farmers Market. The Cota Street lot is the preferred location for the new PD, and I'd think that the PD's needs would outweigh the needs of any Farmers Market. But then, this is Santa Barbara, so who knows?

Factotum
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Sep 12, 2019 09:52 AM
City Council to Review New Police Station Locations

What would be the new property or special assessment tax burden if the city bought the Sears lot, after getting all the multiple mall owners to agree to sell it? I want to know how much to pass on to my tenants.

a-1576034283
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Sep 12, 2019 09:23 AM
City Council to Review New Police Station Locations

No on Earl Warren. It's already perfect as is, and ready-made for our many fire emergencies. Vehicles coming to area to help us, easy for them to reach Earl Warren, and be dispatched from there. People trucking in animals to save them from wildfires. Our Police Department needs it's own identity. Don't clog up Earl Warren.

a-1576034283
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Sep 12, 2019 12:26 PM
City Council to Review New Police Station Locations

I might vote "Earl Warren" just to be rid of the obnoxiously loud music that emanates from there at times. We can hear it loud and clear all the way over by The Old Mission. But, you're right. It needs to remain a staging area in case of emergencies.

a-1576034283
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Sep 12, 2019 09:15 AM
City Council to Review New Police Station Locations

Sears is good choice, plenty of room for existing needs, and potential needs in future. Could do that, AND have a S.B. Police sub-station downtown for holding area for courts.

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