Voters to decide on new Coast Village ‘Community Benefit Improvement District’

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Voting is getting underway to decide whether to create a Coast Village Community Benefit Improvement District, or CBID.

Ballots were mailed this week to all 115 property owners in the proposed district.

Community Benefit Improvement Districts are designed to generate funding for maintenance, marketing and other improvements in a specific area.

The Coast Village CBID would include 5 to 6 square blocks of properties along Coast Village Road and Los Patos Way.

A simple majority is needed to form the new CBID.

If approved, it would begin in 2023.

Ballots are due by June 7. The Santa Barbara City Council will hold a public hearing to count the ballots on that date.

“The Coast Village Association has worked for decades to support the businesses and property owners in the area, the proposed Coast Village CBID is a significant step forward in their efforts for continued investment and improvements to this important neighborhood in the city," said Jason Harris, Santa Barbara's Economic Development Manager, in a press release.

A group of business and property owners called the Coast Village Association first launched efforts to create the Coast Village CBID in 2020.

In January of this year, petitions were sent to all property owners within the proposed CBID. Enough property owners were in favor of the idea that it moved to a ballot vote.

The city provided a $30,000 loan to the Coast Village Association to help cover some of the expenses to prepare for the CBID proposal.