March 2004

The County of Santa Barbara continues with its update of the housing element. It is now proposing to rezone 109 acres throughout the county to accommodate housing of differing densities. In the unincorporated area of Goleta this would most likely mean the loss of agricultural land or open space. PANA believes that we can meet our housing objectives without doing so. To understand why please read PANA’s letter to the Board of Supervisors.

October 2003

Recently the Santa Barbara Region Economic Community Project released a report called the “Regional Impacts of Growth”. An article on the report was in the September 26 News-Press and it can also be viewed at http://www.sbecp.org/pdf/scimpactlr.pdf

The Economic Community Project is a non-profit organization of business, government and community activists whose mission is to promote a healthy environment, a sustainable economy, and the preservation of our citizens’ quality of life for future generations. In their report they look at what would happen on the South Coast 40 years from now under different land use policy assumptions.

Regardless of the growth model studied, ranging from no growth to unlimited growth, all six scenarios result in median home prices of $4 million in 2040, declining population and increased commuting. It is an interesting report and we encourage you to read it.

September 2003

PANA continues to have deep concerns about the direction the County of Santa Barbara is taking with the update of the housing element. Please refer to our August 2003 newsletter for more information.

Many of you may have seen an article in the August 31, 2003 News-Press by Valentin Alexeeff, the Director of the county’s Planning & Development Department. His aim was to clear up some of the misconceptions concerning the community’s understanding of the issues. PANA feels that Mr. Alexeeff’s efforts fell short in this regard and you can read our response here.

Finally, we often hear of the need to build affordable housing in our community. We also hear frequent examples of lack of enforcement of the restrictions placed on homes that are in the affordable housing program. PANA is attempting to learn more about the process of enforcement. Click here to read our letter to Mr. Ed Moses, the Director of the county’s Housing & Community Development Department, regarding this important aspect of the affordable housing dilemma.

June 2003
The County of Santa Barbara has released its draft of the Housing Element. This will be the document that will influence the development of residential housing throughout the County through 2008. Based on housing goals established by the State, it seeks ways to build over 17,000 homes in the County over the next 5 years. If adopted in its current form it would drastically alter the unincorporated areas of Goleta. To read more about it, please read PANA's June 2003 newsletter posted on this website.