Parks & Rec’s Master Plan

Imagine your neighborhood park with a new bathroom. Or a roller rink. Maybe a splash pad, more shade, or a place for dogs to run off-leash.

Those ideas are on the table as Santa Barbara takes a fresh look at its parks, beaches, and open spaces for the first time in 40 years.

Through its Parks & Recreation Master Plan, the city is asking residents what they want from the park system today and what they hope it will look like for generations to come. Overall, it will help inform ongoing work and future investments. Some parks could be improved, while others might be reimagined for entirely different uses.

“We need to think of the whole system, and that’s one of the challenges we faced,” said Parks and Recreation Director Jill Zachary. 

A community survey is open until November 22. Residents are encouraged to weigh in on how their families use the city’s parks, what may keep them from using them, what could be better, and which improvements should take priority. They are also encouraged to share any park-related dreams they have, whether it’s a new splash pad or outdoor yoga classes. 

Why prepare a plan now? For one, Santa Barbara is growing. Zachary explained that “housing is a big deal in Santa Barbara,” and the number of housing units and density “is just going to continue to go up.” 

“So when we’re working on the actual draft plan, we’ll also be overlaying how land use will change because that will drive demand for space,” she said. 

“How do we try to plan for that while still meeting today’s needs?” she mused.

The document will align with park projects and city plans — including adapting to climate impacts, such as sea-level rise — currently underway. The city will also have to take into account “constraints and considerations”: environmental regulations, site conditions, funding, and the like.  

A draft plan will come out in the spring, bringing with it more opportunities for public comment. In the meantime, the city is implementing “just do its” where it can, Zachary said, involving easier fixes with broad benefits. 

Balancing Uses 

The Master Plan comes amid criticism of the city for its oversight of established programs and park uses. 

At Plaza de Vera Cruz, a neighborhood park on Cota Street, the city’s views for the Master Plan butts heads with Santa Barbara Trapeze, founder Randy Kohn’s camp currently stationed there.

Kohn redesigned the area — once known as “Needle Park” for being an incubator of heavy drug use, where a 4-year-old boy pricked himself with a syringe in 2018 — into a safe, swinging destination through his trapeze camp licensed through the city starting in 2021. 

However, the city will not renew his contract past April 2027. Kohn explained that he has tried working with the city for a potential extension, offering to shrink the operation and open up more of the park’s footprint to the public — Santa Barbara Trapeze currently occupies about half the park.

“More people have used this park positively in the few years I’ve been here than in the 30 years before,” he said. “Parks in use take less abuse.” 

However, Parks and Rec imagines a makeover for the park, Zachary explained, upgrading and opening the entire 1.5-acre space up to residents. 

“We’ve had a number of requests from community members to open the park,” Zachary said, including requests for a playground through the Master Plan. The park is within a block of new residential units planned for the area, she noted. 

“We are working with the trapeze group to find them another location because we know it’s an activity that’s beloved by the community and certainly something that we do want to see continued in the community,” she said.