State Street Eyesore

As a Santa Barbara native who will be running for city council in 2017, I found the Angry Poodle column and the “hallucination-as-art” building at the corner of Mission and State streets to be interesting.

I talked to many District 4 residents months before the recent terrorist attacks. This building was frequently mentioned, and there are many people who want it torn down.

The architectural style in this city has historically been Spanish. It is beautiful and why we are known as “The Red Tile City.” I will never understand how that eyesore was approved by the Historic Landmarks Commission — and on State Street near the Old Mission. There is a historical Spanish motif required for all architectural plans submitted to the city.

It is a slap in the face to all the residents and businesses who had to pay the extra fee for their blueprints to comply to the code.

The concern of the community is thorough and far from isolated.

To improve relations with their neighbors, I suggest that the owner(s) of the property (which is currently for sale) remove the dome roof and replace it with the same Spanish architecture that has been followed by the rest of the neighborhood — and some instances at the expense of thousands of dollars. Also, we will never know how much building/remodeling was not attempted because of this additional expense.