January 2003

In the Neighborhood

The projected population growth and the need for additional housing along the south coast is a widely discussed topic, fostering many questions about "where are we going to put all the houses." For the unincorporated Goleta Valley and in the city of Goleta, Santa Barbara County Associations of Government projects a 25% population increase by 2030. Local and regional government policy makers and planners deal with the need not only for more housing stock, but of being able to provide sufficient affordable and work force housing. While housing may get the headlines, it is also about an infrastructure less and less able to accommodate all the growth. Increased housing densities and household sizes, whether in new developments or in older neighborhoods will affect the character of our neighborhoods. More cars on neighborhood streets and greater traffic congestion will also be part of the picture.

So, it is with these thoughts in mind that the neighbors consider the implications for the Noel Christmas Tree Farm housing project, located off N. Patterson Ave. In late November, the county's Board of Architectural Review held a design review session to look at various site plans for this 25 plus acre property. While no design came out of the process, it gave the 30 or so neighbors who attended the session an opportunity to see planning considerations that go into a new development and to get a look at what varying housing densities would do to the site plan.

Here are some of the ideas proffered: zero lot lines, clustered housing, town homes, smaller lots, mixed-use commercial - possibly a day care center, denser lots close to Patterson and the northern edge of the property. The plan for a creek-side public park and direct access from Patterson to the development remained a part of all the discussions. The developer says that the next plan will incorporate more workforce housing and provide three or four market segments of housing.

As of press time, no decision has been made to the number of units, but you can bet by the discussions at the meeting that the 95 units most recently proposed will be increased. If you are interested in receiving notification information about this project, please give your name and address to the county planner in charge of the project. Ann Almay can be reached as follows: Email anne@co.santa-barbara.ca.us or phone 568-2053. The next step for this project is a rezone of the property from agricultural to residential sometime in the new year.

Patterson Packing: On December 12, 2002 Trudi Carey’s Patterson Packing Project, located on 2.45 acres at the west side of Patterson and just north of the freeway, was seen for an in-progress review by the Board of Architectural Review. This project will consist of one two-story and one three-story building with mini-storage facilities and a fruit, vegetable and flower stand operated by the Lane Family, which has fruit and vegetable stand on Walnut Ave and one at the Thursday Goleta Farmer's Market. The planning commission is expected to review the project sometime in March.

University Circle Open Space Recreation Equipment:

photo by Emily Hart-Roberts
www.emilyhart-roberts.com

Neighbors participating in the playground equipment drive to replace outdated dilapidated playstructures with new equipment which will meet current safety and ADA stardards have almost reached their goal: only a few thousand dollars remains to be collected before construction/purchase of new equipment can begin. A new playground will not only provide a safe and fun place for children to play off the increasingly busy streets but will also revitalize the neighborhood. Won’t you consider contributing to this effort which will benefit children for decades. Please send your contribution to: Santa Barbara County Parks Foundations, Attn: Richard Lindley, 610 Mission Canyon Rd., Santa Barbara, CA 93105

ARCO Gas Station and Mini-Mart: The planning commission’s August 28th decision to approve the ARCO gas station and mini-mart at the northeast corner of Patterson Ave. and Highway 101 exit has been appealed to the Board of Supervisors. Let the Board of Supervisors know at their January 7, 2003 meeting that this project will be detrimental to the neighborhood and the community which it is supposed to serve. Here are the reasons:

Everyone who travels the Patterson Ave./Calle Real roadway will be negatively impacted by this project and the traffic it generates. Over 900 cars every day are projected to use the gas station and mini-mart. During the noon and PM peak hours, cars will either enter or exit the station every 20 seconds! This traffic will occur when the roadways are already congested. There are no planned infrastructure changes to improve traffic flow or make it less congested. Traffic congestion at Calle Real and Patterson will continue to increase particularly with the soon-to-be finished Maravilla and the two projects described above yet to be built.

The site is inappropriate for a gas station. It is zoned highway commercial, but the highway traveller can't see the project from the freeway and can't get to and from it easily. Sixty percent (60%) of the cars using the project will need to make a U-turn at the already congested Calle Real/Patterson intersection. There are many concerns about ingress and egress through the one driveway, its proximity to the Patterson/101 off-ramp, and traffic backing-up from the gas station onto Patterson and into the freeway exit.

The project will be a hindrance to the completion of the Calle Real extension, one of the last missing links in providing the community with a secondary route throughout the Goleta Valley to reduce congestion on Highway 101.

The project will bring a high-volume, four-pump gas station and a mini-mart open 19-hours a day, 7-days a week into a solely residential neighborhood that is entirely free of any evening commercial activities. The project's late night hours will bring unwanted and unwelcome traffic to the neighborhood.

Simply stated, this project is not compatible with the neighborhood nor conducive to the health, safety and welfare of our citizens and our community. The City of Goleta, Citizens for Goleta Valley, the Citizen's Planning Association, and PANA oppose this project.

Let your supervisor, Susan Rose, know of your opposition to this project: Call her: (568-2191); send her a fax (568-2283); email her: srose@co.santa-barbara.ca.us; or send her a letter at the following address: Susan Rose, 2nd District Supervisor, County of County of Santa Barbara, 105 E. Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara CA 93101.

The appeal hearing will take place Tuesday morning about 11 a.m., January 7th, 2003 in the Board of Supervisors hearing room at the county administration building. Need more info, call PANA hotline 692-9393.

Street Tree Replacement: Neighbors living on Kellogg, Lyon Place, Pembroke, Stow Canyon, and Butte who had sidewalk, curb, and gutter repair/replacement in early 2002 due to invasive tree roots will be getting replacement trees in early 2003. The City of Goleta sent out letters to all affected homeowners in December advising them of the procedures for the street-tree replacement effort.

San Jose Creek Watershed Plan: San Jose Creek has been selected by the County of Santa Barbara’s Project Clean Water to serve as a pilot project for a watershed planning effort. The plan is an opportunity for the community to develop a blueprint for improving water quality, providing for flood control protection, improving plant and animal habitat, and coordinating local land use. The community is invited to attend the next meeting on Thursday, January 16, 2003, 7 PM at the Goleta Valley Community Center. For more info, log onto www.countyofsb.org/project_cleanwater or call Darcy Aston at Project Cleanwater at 568-3546.

Sphere of Influence: (Quoted from the Dec13th edition of the Valley Voice) The Committee for One plans to file a request to place the land between the cities of Santa Barbara and Goleta under the sphere of influence of the City of Santa Barbara. "That means that the city (of Santa Barbara) will have something to say about zoning mattters and so forth," said co-chair Harriett Phillips. The land would not be annexed by the city of Santa Barbara at that point, and to outline any future plans would be premature, Phillips said. However, she called the action a first step toward an eventual annexation. For more information, please call Harriett Phillips at 964-4905.

Last Newsletter: This will be the last printed newsletter for the foreseeable future. The much greater press coverage by the Valley Voice, the Beacon and the Santa Barbara Newspress on all matters in the Goleta Valley has done a great deal to keep the citizenry informed and current on local neighborhood issues. Often times, there is even a generous give and take in letters to the editor that is far more elaborative, informative, and timely than this thrice yearly newsletter could ever hope to be. Printing and distributing the newsletter has also become cost-prohibitive. Last, with the advent of the city of Goleta, the city council now considers and acts on neighborhood issues (e.g., newspaper racks in the neighborhoods, garage conversions) reducing the necessity for the neighborhood to take action.

Keep up to date: Even though you won't be reading about the status of projects in a paper newsletter, PANA will still keep tabs of current projects and activities in the neighborhood. Visit PANA’s website: www.panaspeedbump.org or to receive periodic email updates, send your email address to timschmidt@verizon.net.

Thank You: PANA supporters, neighborhood volunteers, and concernced citizens. Your efforts are what make Goleta such a great place to live.

On behalf of the board of directors of the Patterson Area Neighborhoods Association: I wish you all a very happy and healthy new year!
Cecilia Brown, President
Bud Sprague, treasurer
Richard Whited, secretary;
Jude Blau
Chris Harrison