Coast Village Road recovering smoothly after disasters

Santa Barbara’s Coast Village Road is making a comeback about 18 months after the Montecito mudflow drastically impacted the economy here.

That disaster followed the massive Thomas fire a month earlier. Together they were a direct hit on the local economy and often kept locals close to home and visitors away.

These days it is different.

“It feels vibrant and it is just a joy to come down to Coast Village Road,” said Lynda Saville a nearby resident.

There’s a bond with the business community and many residents want to see the area thrive again.

There’s a form of shopper loyalty that’s working.

It comes after merchants met, made a plan, called upon city leaders and worked both individually and collectively on the issues that were impacting the scenic strip.

“I shop in Montecito more just because I want to help support the local businesses and kind of help bring things back,” Saville said.

A new report shows the vacancy rate is very low at just under five percent.

Two more restaurants are coming in with Ca Dario taking over the old Giovanni’s pizza spot and the now-closed Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is going to be a Mesa burger location, according to business leaders on the street.

Parking is one of the biggest complaints with both the success and the layout of parking spaces.

Debbie Kendrick is a local resident who says, “just come early and you know where to shop for the spot .”

Others say drive behind the buildings and you will find many have designated lots.

“I park in the back parking lots,” said Dareld Shjaver. “I just don’t take the time to wait and go through up front. It doesn’t make sense. There’s plenty of parking in the back.”

With changes including new stores and restaurants along with improvements like upgrades to the plazas and walkways, there’s more optimism here than some other areas of the city where sales are still falling short.

It’s good to see the continued growth here which we aren’t seeing it downtown, fortunately, but it will come back,” Shjaver said.

The city has been using certain acceleration options when handling permits and inspections but not every applicant is coming away on a faster track.

Each address has different dynamics, even if it appears to be, for example, a restaurant for a restaurant. Code laws, health regulations, and other issues may be preventing a simple over the counter approval.