••• James Perse is taking over the Angel store on Coast Village Road (and Angel is moving next to Bree’osh). The question remains whether this will be Perse’s third Montecito shop—along with the ones at the Montecito Country Mart and Rosewood Miramar Beach—or whether one of those is moving. I’d bet money on the Country Mart shop closing, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Mashburn took its place. The other day, at Mashburn’s Brentwood Country Mart outpost, a staffer told me that the Country Mart’s Jim Rosenfield has been hoping to find a space for the brand here.
••• San Francisco–based The Haunt has launched 90-minute ghost tours in Solvang ($49). The highlights: “Haunted 1900’s Danish architecture in historic Solvang; seek out the paranormal using professional ghost hunting tools; gripping stories of documented hauntings and true crimes.”
••• After I mentioned that the city of Santa Barbara bought 222 E. Anapamu Street (as disclosed in Hayes Commercial Group’s second-quarter report), Liz pointed out that it backs up against the current Santa Barbara Police Department station on E. Figueroa (perhaps the city has determined what to do with it once the SBPD moves to E. Cota Street), and Jim asked what the purchase price was. The deed actually shows no value, so either no money was involved in the transfer (e.g., a swap), or the city has found a way to hide it. The transfer happened on June 30, and a month later, the former owner, Ll&A 2 LLC, filed a deed of trust reconveyance. Perhaps the city paid off the debt associated with the property in exchange for taking it over…? I’m in way over my head here, so any experts out there should feel free to chime in. UPDATE 8/14: “According to our Finance Director, Keith DeMartini, the building was purchased for $4.3 million,” said a rep for the City Administrator’s office. And then I also heard from a reader in city government who said, “Government entities purchasing/taking properties within their jurisdiction are not subject to transfer taxes or property taxes. Thus, there’s no declaration on the deed, but it doesn’t mean there’s anything shady about the transfer.”
••• The Goleta Lemon Festival is September 30 and October 1 at Girsh Park: “The festival is Goleta’s largest community event of the year, hosting over 80-plus booths featuring local non-profit organizations, crafts, lemony foods and beverages, and lemon-themed souvenirs.”
••• Item #1 of note on this Wednesday’s Historic Landmarks Commission agenda: a new building on the long, narrow lot at 123 E. Carrillo (Anacapa/Santa Barbara): “a new three-story residential apartment complex with a small commercial office fronting Carrillo Street. The development is comprised of three building volumes: one dedicated to units under the City’s Average Unit-Size Density Incentive Program comprised of three 2bed/1bath units with an average unit size of 962 square feet, a central stairway structure, and a mixed-use building comprised of ground floor waste/recycling and bike storage, a 287-square-foot commercial office, and an 850-square-foot Accessory Dwelling Unit occupying the second and third floor. The project includes exterior balconies and roof decks with solar array on supporting trellis structures and planters.” The existing one-story building would be demolished.
••• Item #2 from the HLC agenda: “Proposal to redevelop Ambassador Park [100 W. Cabrillo Boulevard] to celebrate Chumash cultural heritage and improve access and usage of the park. Project includes new landscaping and hardscaping, a gathering area for educational events and Chumash ceremonies/storytelling, and multi-lingual interpretative signage.”
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The Coastal Conservancy, in my opinion should move this project to the beach side of Cabrillo Blvd. It’s a nice project but it eliminates (redevelops) a park the offers a soft, cool surface to enjoy. I like the lawn. And the, lawn won.
I see what you did there.
I, too like the lawn. Pave over de la Guerra Plaza, now this little park. I know grass is a waste of water but not ALWAYS.
Personally, I enjoy the lawn.
Oh, I love this little space. I hope they don’t move forward with this!
The best thing they can do with the Ambassador Park is leave it alone – it is perfect as it is…
Ambassador Park is the last undeveloped strip of Cabrillo Blvd and the main entry and exit to the beach for all visitors and residents of West Beach for over 100 years!
However there is a park that needs help. The little park next to the huge Morten Bay Fig tree by the train station is actually where Portola camped in 1769 and met the Chumash from the Burton Mound for the first time. That park has ample parking is historically important and would be the very best place to do something to celebrate the Chumash history of the area. Ruining something that is already alive and working fine is a waste for everyone.
Below is my letter to the Mayor and City Council.
Please contact the city opposing this awful project:
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Dear Mayor Rowse and Members of the Santa Barbara City Council,
I am writing as a nine-year resident of the West Beach neighborhood to strongly urge the City Council to pause and reconsider the current direction of the proposed Chumash Cultural Project at Ambassador Park.I understand there is a public meeting/open house on June 17. I will be out of the country on that date; otherwise, I would attend in person. Please take this letter as my official public input and formal comment on the project.Ambassador Park is the only true green neighborhood gathering space in our immediate area. My family and neighbors use it every day, often multiple times a day. It is where children play, neighbors meet, people sit in the sun, families picnic, dogs play, and residents and visitors enjoy a rare patch of open grass in a dense waterfront neighborhood. It is not just a pass-through to the beach. For those of us who live here, it is part of our daily life.I support honoring Chumash culture and the historic importance of Syuxtun. That history should be recognized with care and respect. But honoring history should not require removing or greatly diminishing the current living function of the park. The City should be able to honor Chumash heritage while preserving the open green space that current residents depend on.Our request is not simply to adjust the current design. We want Ambassador Park to remain untouched as open neighborhood green space, and we ask the City to move this project to the area by the Moreton Bay Fig Tree. That location makes much more sense for a cultural and interpretive project. It is already a historic, highly visible, visitor-facing public space, and it would allow the City to honor Chumash heritage without sacrificing the only flexible green lawn that our neighborhood uses every day.The current proposal appears to move the park away from flexible neighborhood use and toward a more constructed, programmed, hardscaped cultural site. That may look appealing in renderings, but for residents it raises serious concerns. Where will children run? Where will neighbors gather casually? Where will people picnic or sit on the grass? How will this remain a simple, welcoming, daily-use park rather than a designed space people are meant to walk through and look at?I also have serious environmental concerns about disturbing the existing grounds and palm trees, which appear to serve as nesting grounds for Great Blue Herons. These birds are part of the living ecosystem of the park as it exists today. The project appears to assume Ambassador Park can be redesigned primarily as a cultural and landscape site, but it is already functioning as habitat. We are wondering whether any feasibility analysis, biological assessment, nesting-bird survey, or environmental review has been completed specifically addressing the Great Blue Herons, the palm trees, and the broader ecosystem currently supported by the park.This is not a minor issue. Most bird nests are protected under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service states that it is illegal to destroy a nest with eggs or chicks in it, or if young birds are still dependent on the nest for survival.The City and project team chose this park in its current condition, with its open lawn, palm trees, birds, daily human use, and existing neighborhood ecosystem. That existing condition is exactly what we want protected. We do not want to disturb the ecosystem that has formed here. Before any redesign, construction, grading, tree work, landscaping changes, or increase in programmed activity is considered, the City should provide a clear public explanation of how nesting birds, palm-tree habitat, and current ecological conditions will be protected.I am especially concerned because the City’s maintenance record in this exact area does not inspire confidence. The Syuxtun Story Circle mosaic across the street has been damaged or neglected for a long time. The historic plaque at Ambassador Park has been stolen and not restored. The park itself is not even being consistently maintained at the level it deserves. Before the City adds more complex cultural installations, custom features, special landscaping, and interpretive elements, it should first prove that it can restore and maintain what already exists.The West Beach neighborhood has also lost or been deprived of other basic public amenities. The wading pool by Los Baños has been closed for far too long without a meaningful solution for local families. Now the City is considering transforming the only green space our neighborhood uses daily. From the perspective of residents, this feels like another decision that prioritizes planning concepts over the actual quality of life of local people.I respectfully ask the City Council to require the following before this project advances:Preserve Ambassador Park in its current open, flexible green-space function for local residents, children, families, neighbors, dogs, and everyday visitors.Direct staff to seriously study relocating the project to the area by the Moreton Bay Fig Tree.Require real neighborhood outreach specifically for residents who use the park regularly.Require a biological assessment, nesting-bird survey, and feasibility analysis addressing the Great Blue Herons, palm trees, nesting habitat, and current ecosystem of Ambassador Park.Prohibit any tree work, grading, construction, or landscape disturbance until the City has publicly disclosed how nesting birds and existing habitat will be protected.Study a less intrusive alternative that honors Chumash history through restored markers, interpretive signage, edge plantings, and cultural education without dismantling the open lawn or disturbing the park’s existing ecosystem.Require a funded long-term maintenance plan before approving any new cultural, landscape, or ecological features.Restore the existing Syuxtun mosaic and missing historical plaque before adding new interpretive elements.Ensure that any future design is judged not only by cultural intent, but also by whether it protects the daily life, access, open-space needs, and ecological integrity of the West Beach neighborhood.Please do not allow Ambassador Park to become another project where residents are asked for feedback after the direction has already been decided. We are one of the most active communities using this park, and the neighbors I have spoken with do not support the current direction. We are asking to be heard before the City makes an irreversible mistake.This park can honor Chumash history and still remain a living neighborhood lawn. Those goals do not have to be in conflict. But the current direction does not yet strike that balance.We are not asking for cosmetic revisions to the current plan. We are asking the City to preserve Ambassador Park as it is and relocate the proposed cultural project to a more appropriate location.Please pause the current plan, listen to the neighborhood, and require a design that protects Ambassador Park as both a culturally meaningful place and an essential everyday green space for local residents, everyday visitors, and the wildlife that already depends on this place.
Sincerely,
You have stated many of my concerns with the proposed project. I agree with almost everything. I have spent more than thirty years working as a gardener in Santa Barbara and Montecito. For me the biggest problem is who is going to maintain it and how is it being funded into the future.
For example the city spent $11,000,000 on the State street 101 underpass, with Jeff Shelton’s design. If you haven’t noticed the succulents, plants and trees are suffering. Some look dead.
Sure this looks like a good project on paper. . . then what?