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Land use and just who exactly decides how land is to be used continues
to be a controversial topic both locally and nationally. At the
national level the United States Supreme Court recently ruled that
local governments may force property owners to sell out and make
way for private economic development when officials decide it would
benefit the public, even if the property is not blighted and the
new project's success is not guaranteed.
Opponents, including property-rights activists, argued that forcibly
shifting land from one private owner to another, even with fair
compensation, violates the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution,
which prohibits the taking of property by government except for
"public use”.
Locally, the effort to gain control of land use decisions is getting
more complex and contradictory. In the unincorporated areas of Goleta
there is a growing effort to be annexed by the City of Santa Barbara.
At the same time many neighborhoods already within the City of Santa
Barbara are expressing deep dissatisfaction with the City’s
land use decisions that have resulted in increased building, density
and traffic.
And a study of a possible split of Santa Barbara County, began
by interests in the North County, has revealed that, from a financial
standpoint, it would actually be in the best interests of the South
County to vote for a split as the South County’s tax base
significantly subsidizes services in the north.
And the balance-of-power on the Board of Supervisors has shifted
as a result of Brooks Firestone being elected in the 3rd district.
Efforts to curb public input during the decision-making process
and revisions to environmental planning procedures are two initiatives
that have South Coast activists very concerned.
| County
of Santa Barbara Planning Commissioner “Office
Hours”
You have an opportunity to meet the 2nd district’s
new Planning Commissioner, Marc McGinnes. He will
be at the Wake Center on August 17th at 7pm and
would like to hear your concerns about planning
and development issues in the 2nd district. A
brief biography on Mr. McGinnes follows:
An environmental activist and lawyer since 1969,
Mr. McGinnes led the founding of one of America's
first ecology centers in 1970 and one of the first
public interest environmental law firms in 1977.
He is a former director of Congress on Optimum
Population and Environment, Chicago, and Earth
Island Institute, San Francisco. His environmental
law courses at UCSB are among the longest running
and most innovative at the undergraduate level
in the United States. |
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| Noel Christmas
Tree Farm
On August 1, 2005, Jeffrey Nelson, the attorney representing
the owners of this property, submitted an application
to the county for a comprehensive plan change of the
property from agriculture to residential, pending since
the end of 2001, and asks that it be forwarded to the
decision-makers on this project.
In the application, Mr. Nelson explains “we have
spent several years both “in” and “out”
of the pending Housing Element process as a potential
site and it appears time to have this property and project
heard on its own. We have spent fully five years now
working with neighbors and adapting the plan to different
housing policies during that time, and we believe this
project is currently the best South Coast candidate
for infill housing, with a full range of housing types.”
In the application Mr. Nelson notes that the property
owners have complied with county staff’s wishes
“to actively work with neighbors to stretch the
historical density comfort zone of the neighbors to
accommodate more housing as per today’s community
planning objectives, developing some fourteen plans
in the effort.”
It remains to be seen to what extent the current application
will attempt to stretch the “density comfort zone”
of the surrounding neighborhoods since the copy of the
application provided to PANA does not include the project
design.
The clear implication of this application is that Mr.
Nelson and the property owners will pin their development
hopes on the support of the three members of the Board
of Supervisors representing the North County who, it
is feared, will be less receptive to concerns about
this project raised by neighbors. |
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| Patterson
Plus Self-Storage & Tutti Frutti Farms Produce
and Flower Market
On Wednesday, August 24th Patterson Plus Self-Storage
and Tutti Frutti Farms Produce and Flower Market
will hold their grand opening from 5:00 pm –
7:00 pm. All are invited and the address is 5325
Calle Real. |
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| Hourigan
Property
The owner of this property (located at 1118 N. Patterson
Avenue) has proposed a residential subdivision and development
of five new, two story single-family residences, ranging
between 3,008 and 3,172 square feet, two duplex units
(each 2,160 square feet) and an open space lot.
Several neighbors have been closely following the status
of this project and attended a recent Board of Architectural
Review meeting where this project was discussed. In
general, the neighbors are supportive of the project
and one went so far as to indicate that “this
project has gone above and beyond in addressing neighbor
concerns” although there are still some issues
to resolve in terms of traffic and the actual siting
of the homes.
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| Thanks
The University Open Space along Merida is an
area used by many. PANA recently presented a letter
of appreciation to Bob Davey, the county park
ranger who does such an excellent job of maintaining
the open space that so many of us enjoy. Thank
you, Bob.
Neighborhood
Watch!
Neighbors have reported that there have been
instances of vandals getting into backyards and
trying to break-into unlocked cars in streets
off Kellogg during the late night and early morning
hours. Remove the temptation - lock car doors
and place valuables out of sight and report any
problems to the sheriff. |
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| PANA's Board of Directors, Tim Schmidt, President;
Bud Sprague, Treasurer: Richard Whited, Secretary; Jude
Blau, Cecila Brown, Chris Harrison, Kathy Randma, and
Brenda Peter
PANA is a non-profit with a tax-exempt status so your
donation is tax-deductible.
As always, PANA encourages your comments and questions.
Please e-mail us at timschmidt@verizon.net
or visit our website at www.panaspeedbump.org |
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Addendum:
Strategic Scan: County of Santa Barbara, as
we have previously related, is undergoing many changes. An opportunity
to learn about possible future directions of the county is through
the recently held “Strategic Scan,” hearing. Here
is the rebroadcast on Cox cable channel 20 of the hearing conducted
on August 15th.
Friday 8/19 at 2 PM
Saturday 8/20 at 2 PM and 9 PM
Sunday 8/21 at 9 PM
Sphere of Influence: On Tuesday, August 23rd
at approximately 2:30 PM, the Santa Barbara City Council will
discuss Spheres of Influence relating to the Eastern Goleta Valley.
Tune in and watch on Cox Cable Channel 18 or attend the meeting
at City Hall in person.
September Meeting with 2nd District Planning Commissioner:
Wednesday night’s meeting with the 2nd district planning
commissioner was quite lively with participants expressing a list
of concerns from second units, parking, traffic, compliance and
enforcement issues as well as having representation of their concerns
in the planning and development process. In order to establish
a continuing dialogue about the many issues facing our neighborhoods,
a September meeting is planned. You will be notified of the date
and time.
Patterson Packing and Tutti Frutti Farms: Oops!
We spoke too soon. Official opening ceremonies for this project
won’t happen for several weeks. So please disregard our
previous notice.
County Planning Process and Procedures: An informative
day-long follow-up to a recently held SB County Planning Commission
retreat where they discussed a host of planning-related issues
which will affect our neighborhoods will be held at the planning
commission’s August 24th meeting. The meeting is televised
on Cox Channel 20 beginning at 9AM (with rebroadcast on Friday
beginning at 5PM). Some of the topics to be discussed are: process
improvement, development review, and comprehensive planning.
City of Goleta begins regular TV Broadcasts of Council
Meetings: Televising of Monday’s council meeting
is tonight at 6PM and Saturday morning at 6AM on Cox Channel 21.
Council meetings are generally held on the 1st and 3rd Monday
of the month with televising of the meetings on the following
Friday and Saturday. Broadcast of Planning Agency meetings will
begin in September. Please check www.sbchannels.tv for schedule
information.
Dutcher Design 2005 |
