June 19, 2024
News Roundup
Refugio State Beach Is Closed Indefinitely
Other recent news: Professional soccer team to play at UCSB stadium; Santa Barbara Unified School District teachers' strike tentatively averted; county supervisors wrestle with the cannabis tax mess; Highway 101 construction above Ventura is done; seed money to try and buy Carpinteria Bluffs land slated for development; Santa Cruz Market sold; new hat shop in Carpinteria. 2
June 12, 2024
Santa Barbara Residents to Vote on a Sales Tax Increase
Other recent news: The longstanding friction at Hot Springs Trail; Chaucer's Books is under new ownership; hotel tax hike on the ballot in November; cannabis taxes continue to disappoint; Lower Tunnel Trail and Inspiration Point trailhead will be closed for six months; Waterfront Department plans to raise slip fees and harbor parking fees; inside the reborn Zaca Lake resort. 3
June 4, 2024
Santa Barbara Is Considering a Sales Tax Increase
Other recent news: Many of the school district's solar arrays have yet to function; criminal charges filed against landlord; mysterious fish die-off; Old Town Antiques is closing; the tree of the month; county district attorneys vs. Carbmaster bread. 2
May 23, 2024
Caruso Officially Files Plans for Miramar Expansion
Other recent news: The city intends to tweak another block of State Street; Southwest Airlines is expected to pause weekday flights between Santa Barbara and Denver; underground tanks discovered downtown; creepy people harass restaurant patrons; more on Hill House Montecito; Island View Outfitters opened on upper State Street; the county courthouse’s viewing deck is closed till late July; new kung fu and tai chi studio; state law to make street parking even harder; Pink to headline One805Live! benefit. 18
May 16, 2024
City Council Rejects Proposal for Paid Street Parking
Other recent news: More on the two new pools the Biltmore is building in its front yard; SpaceX continues to flout Coastal Commission policies; rise in rattlesnake bites; county supervisors are rethinking cannabis taxation; a surge in sick brown pelicans; Billy Baldwin and Chynna Phillips put their house on the market; Carpinteria photo archive is now online. 7
May 9, 2024
May 2, 2024
Moving Date Set for the Saturday Farmers’ Market
Other recent news: The proposed changes to the Castillo Street underpass will proceed; county supervisors punt on cannabis odor control; update on the Santa Barbara News-Press's bankruptcy; international soccer clubs to play here this summer; the tree of the month. 5
April 25, 2024
Paid Street Parking Is Likely Coming to Downtown Santa Barbara
Other recent news: The crackdown on unlicensed vacation rentals is working; 1,771 new housing units proposed for east of Old Town Goleta; the stone pines on E. Anapamu Street keep coming down; deal reached for a new marine sanctuary off the Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo County coastlines. 11
April 11, 2024
Where State Farm Won’t Be Renewing This Year
Other recent news: The 99 Cents Only store on lower State Street will close; cruise ship visits limited to 20 per year; a new debris basin above Park Lane in Montecito; five-story building downtown gets ripped by the Architectural Board of Review; up to a thousand new homes proposed for Glen Annie golf course; Das Williams thinks cannabis wasn't a main factor in his loss; California Coastal Commission weighing its role on rocket launches; Miranda Lambert to play the California Mid-State Fair. 6
April 4, 2024
UCSB Once Again Agrees to Build More Student Housing
Other recent news: The history of the Granada Theatre on the occasion of its 100th anniversary; homeowners near the Hot Springs trailhead told to move parking obstructions; investigation into Manning Park's caretaker cottage; free rattlesnake removal and relocation; the Carpinteria location of Seaside Makers has moved; two stone pines fell on Anapamu Street; the tree of the month. 11
Burning Questions
- How Long Will This Big Pipe Be at East Beach?
- Is Cabrillo Boulevard Going to Be Widened Under Highway 101?
- Was There a Fisherman Inn in Downtown Santa Barbara?
- What Are Those Old Buildings at the Corner of Castillo and Montecito Streets?
- When Will the Coast Village Road Medians Be Completed?
- What’s This Scaffold Structure on Las Positas Road?
- Why Does Street Striping Take So Long to Happen?
Recent Comments
Exactly this. I haven't heard any realistic alternatives yet. — BrR
The land is privately owned and zoned for development. What operates on it today exists at the discretion of the owners, and that can change… — BrR
Those tract homes are tacky and not good enough for precious Carpinteria. Carp deserves much better than those eye sores. — KK
It’s not vacant parcel: it’s a beautiful co-op organic farm, Farm Cart Organics, that feeds our community, and a farm school, Carpinteria Children’s Farm, and… — Sarah
Respectfully, there was never a version of development on this site that Carpinteria was going to welcome with open arms. That's the problem. Even if… — EM
My comment on your post here last June: https://www.sitelinesb.com/nearly-200-housing-units-proposed-for-the-carpinteria-bluffs/ “the developer is saying it’ll use the density bonus to accommodate the housing instead—and retain the… — SkyG
I’d definitely prefer a hotel with restaurant, farm, grounds, etc. than Orange County tract homes. — BW
For anyone curious, the "farm resort" initially proposed—and intensely resisted by Carpinteria residents—is described in this post: https://www.sitelinesb.com/99-room-farm-resort-proposed-for-the-carpinteria-bluffs/ — Erik Torkells
The state is going to force housing on communities that don't plan for it. Carpinteria can either shape what gets built here or wait for… — BrR
Genuinely curious what outcome you'd prefer. The land is privately owned and zoned for development. If not this, then what? Leaving it vacant forever isn't… — EM