The $407 million plan to build the biggest and best hospital between Los Angeles and San Jose goes before top city planners today in a meeting that will frame the future of Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital and its surrounding neighborhood.
The 4 p.m. meeting at Santa Barbara City Hall likely will pit neighborhood and environmental advocates against health care workers and the powerful Cottage administrative team.
Already, Cottage officials are saying that some of the suggestions in a three-volume environmental report -- limits on construction hours and green building requirements -- are out of line and impossible to carry out. Cottage is also unhappy about street improvements it would have to make because of increases in traffic.
Cottage wants the city Planning Commission to override some of the suggestions, which the commission has the authority to do.
The commission will not make any decisions today on the largest and most expensive single project in Santa Barbara's history. The matter must come back to the panel at a later date for certification of the environmental report.
Posted by gandlwoods at December 2, 2004 07:37 AM