The Montecito Planning Commission on Wednesday approved the Montecito Family YMCA's plans to renovate and expand its facilities.
The YMCA, at 591 Santa Rosa Lane, plans to expand the main building from 7,416 square feet to 10,336 square feet, demolish the current locker room to build a new one, and build a new multipurpose building. It also wants to expand its pool from five lanes to seven lanes.
Additionally, the organization plans a new parking lot that will add 42 spaces.
Ryan Power, the executive director of the YMCA, said that even though the property is nice, the facilities are "undersized and outdated." He mentioned issues such as the building not being compliant with seismic safety standards or accessibility rules.
"Currently, we don't have proper HVAC as well. It's an old cinder block building," Power said. "As great as it is, our indoor multipurpose space can get congested and causes congestion in our parking lots as well."
Power added that most members of the YMCA are from Montecito and that he doesn't believe that expanding the facilities will have a significant impact on traffic.
If the YMCA gets final approval, it plans to implement a cap on membership to avoid admitting too many members. It currently doesn't have a cap.
"I know there's concern in the past about people from outside the area, but we view ourselves as a community center for Montecito," Power said.
The vote is not the final step for the YMCA project, but the commission's approval will allow the organization to move forward to the Montecito Board of Architectural Review.
The YMCA appeared before the Montecito board in 2021 but did not get approval. The board was reluctant to move forward because of the height of the main building and pushback from residents.
The board asked the YMCA to work with the community to develop construction plans that fit the needs of its neighbors.
At Wednesday's Montecito Planning Commission meeting, commissioners honed in on the issue of parking. They expressed concern about the additional spots and whether traffic would have an impact on the neighborhood.
Commission chair Marshall Miller asked about what happens when the YMCA is hosting special events and there is not enough parking at the site. He stated that people sometimes use nearby parking lots that require walking along Santa Rosa Lane to get to the YMCA.
One of the issues Miller raised was pedestrian safety, given the lack of a sidewalk and crosswalk on the road.
"As a father of school-age kids, I have spent a certain amount of my own life in that parking lot stressing, stretching my own patience, waiting for someone else to move and then looking for alternative parking," Miller said.
He acknowledged that part of the issue fell outside of the Planning Commission's jurisdiction but added that he wanted to see whether the YMCA could do something to ensure safety on its end.
No revisions were made to the YMCA's plan, but representatives from the organization said they are willing to work with the commission or Santa Barbara County in the future if they choose to make any changes.
The commission voted 4-0 to approve the plans after asking representatives and designers to make revisions requiring that any plants that are removed be replaced with native plants. The original plans included eucalyptus trees, which commissioners pushed back against because of fears about disease.
In addition to the revision to the landscaping, the commissioners asked that the YMCA make annual reports to the commission.