Santa Barbara City Council Squashes Parklet Appeals for Six Businesses

The Santa Barbara City Council denied the appeals of six businesses that were ordered to remove their parklets after being served multiple notices of violations due to accessibility problems. 

The six businesses — Taza Mediterranean Street Kitchen on State Street, Trattoria Vittoria and Ca’Dario Restaurant on Victoria Street, Folded Hills Winery on Coast Village Road, Courthouse Tavern on Anapamu Street, and Foxtail Kitchen and Bar on Cota Street — all filed appeals with the city after being found out of compliance, with several business owners citing confusion over messaging or struggles with supply chain issues and asking for extensions to address the violations.

On Tuesday, the City Council voted to uphold the orders for removal, with Mayor Randy Rowse saying that the American Disabilities Act is “the law,” and the city had no wiggle room to allow accessibility violations. 

“It’s not squishable; it’s not changeable,” Rowse said. “It’s something we were sworn to uphold.”

Two of the appeals received support from some of the councilmembers. In the case of family-owned restaurant Trattoria Vittoria, which had issues addressing violations due to new general manager Vittoria Comin taking over the business from her ailing grandfather, councilmembers Oscar Gutierrez and Mike Jordan voted on the side of the restaurant keeping its parklet. The appeal was denied 5-2.

Taza Mediterranean Street Kitchen — which similarly cited family issues in its appeal letter — also received one vote from Councilmember Gutierrez. Taza’s appeal was denied 6-1, and the other four appeals were denied unanimously.

All six businesses must now remove their parklets immediately, though they can submit an application for a new parklet if they choose to do so.