Editorial: Sansum project speeds through
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By Editorial Board Friday, March 15th, 2013
Ground was broken March 12 for a project in the city of Santa Barbara that took just seven months to go through annexation, permitting and planning.
That is practically light speed for a project of any size and we hope it represents a new and more business-friendly approach by a city that’s rarely known for moving quickly to get dirt moving.
But the 60,000-square-foot two-building campus for Sansum Clinic also demonstrates how picky the city can be about which projects move forward.
Towbes Group, the owner and developer, has had a project for the parcel on Foothill Road near Highway 154 on the drawing boards for 14 years.
A shopping center and residential project failed to pass muster.
The development for Sansum appears to have hit a sweet spot — good-paying jobs, a much-needed surgery suite for the giant clinic and, plenty of parking and no objection from neighbors.
Hopefully there are a few more such opportunities to be discovered.