Planning Commission recommends rezoning 2020 Chapala Street to allow funeral services

On April 17, 2025, the Santa Barbara Planning Commission voted 6-0 to recommend that City Council rezone the property at 2020 Chapala Street from Office Restricted (OR) to Commercial General (CG), a change staff said would align the parcel’s zoning with the city’s general plan and allow the existing funeral parlor to continue operating.

Planning staffer Miss Buckhart told the commission the site, located north of Mission Street in the Oak Park neighborhood, is currently occupied by McDermott and Crockett Associates Mortuary and an accessory building. She said the mortuary has held business licenses at the address since February 2011 and that the rezone request is intended to correct a longstanding mismatch between the parcel’s zoning and the city’s land-use designation. "The CG zone is the most appropriate for the commercial medium high…