Efforts to locate a brand new Target store on property owned by the City of Santa Barbara adjacent to the
municipal airport were rejected for the third — and presumably — last time at last week’s Santa Barbara City
Council meeting. Acting in closed session, the council voted not to pursue exploratory talks with Target or
real estate developer Andrew Bermant — attempting to broker a deal between the two — to develop the 15-
acre island of land owned by the City of Santa Barbara but surrounded by the City of Goleta.
Councilmembers expressed hope that Target would still open an outlet in Santa Barbara — perhaps buying
out the Sears outlet in La Cumbre Plaza — but opined that the airport property was not appropriate. Santa
Barbara officials voiced concern about the traffic congestion the proposed Target might cause at the
Fairview/Highway 101/ Hollister Avenue interchange. They also expressed real apprehension over the
potential opposition such a development could unleash among Goleta officials and residents. If Target were
built there, they said, Goleta would bear the brunt of any additional traffic congestion, while Santa Barbara
would reap the financial rewards — $700,000 a year in rent and up to $1 million a year in sales tax revenues.
Andrew Bermant decried City Council’s action. “I’m shocked. I’m upset,” he said. “The public never had a
chance to explore the proposal. The council killed it behind closed doors and before it was ever really looked
at.” Bermant complained that Santa Barbara’s airport property — 15 acres of prime real estate — has sat
fallow way too long. “If I ran a property like that, I’d fire myself,” he commented. In fact, Bermant and his
brother Jeff long held rights to develop the airport property, but their efforts to locate two major projects on
the site — a Miravant and Citirix — fell through for a host of reasons....MORE
municipal airport were rejected for the third — and presumably — last time at last week’s Santa Barbara City
Council meeting. Acting in closed session, the council voted not to pursue exploratory talks with Target or
real estate developer Andrew Bermant — attempting to broker a deal between the two — to develop the 15-
acre island of land owned by the City of Santa Barbara but surrounded by the City of Goleta.
Councilmembers expressed hope that Target would still open an outlet in Santa Barbara — perhaps buying
out the Sears outlet in La Cumbre Plaza — but opined that the airport property was not appropriate. Santa
Barbara officials voiced concern about the traffic congestion the proposed Target might cause at the
Fairview/Highway 101/ Hollister Avenue interchange. They also expressed real apprehension over the
potential opposition such a development could unleash among Goleta officials and residents. If Target were
built there, they said, Goleta would bear the brunt of any additional traffic congestion, while Santa Barbara
would reap the financial rewards — $700,000 a year in rent and up to $1 million a year in sales tax revenues.
Andrew Bermant decried City Council’s action. “I’m shocked. I’m upset,” he said. “The public never had a
chance to explore the proposal. The council killed it behind closed doors and before it was ever really looked
at.” Bermant complained that Santa Barbara’s airport property — 15 acres of prime real estate — has sat
fallow way too long. “If I ran a property like that, I’d fire myself,” he commented. In fact, Bermant and his
brother Jeff long held rights to develop the airport property, but their efforts to locate two major projects on
the site — a Miravant and Citirix — fell through for a host of reasons....MORE
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