by Martha Sadler
As El Carrillo Studios (pictured) approaches its September
opening, the city Housing Authority is asking the community for
donations to accessorize the apartments for the once homeless and
near homeless, currently under construction at 315 West Carrillo
Street. The Housing Authority is touting the $10 million project,
designed by architects Brian Cearnal and Joseph Andrulaitis, as a
prototype of very attractive, very high-density housing. Its 61
units bring the county’s number of permanent beds for the formerly
homeless up 16 percent to 436. Clustered on just half an
acre — which translates to a density of 122 units per acre — the
complex is replete with sculptured stucco and the full range of
Spanish-style detailing required in the downtown historical
district, and behind those C-curve adobe tiles lurks a rooftop
photovoltaic system that will provide an estimated 20 percent or
more of the complex’s energy needs. At 235 square feet, each
apartment is larger than a dorm room but much smaller than the
400-square-foot minimum mandated by the city’s zoning laws; each
will be outfitted with a microwave and an under-the-counter
refrigerator — no stovetop or oven except in the community kitchen.
The city waived the size minimum as well as the usual parking space
requirements. The Work Training Program will organize resident
services including vocational and financial counseling, mental
health treatment, and drug and alcohol rehabilitation. The Housing
Authority is asking organizations or individuals to adopt a studio
or community room for $200, to provide such accoutrements as
towels, dishes, and bedding. Send tax-deductible donations to the
attention of Rob Pearson, Housing Authority of the City of Santa
Barbara, 808 Laguna St., S.B., CA 93101.