The clearing at Hot Springs/101 interchange.......almost slammed my brakes on thinking I took the wrong exit the other day. Yikes . Talk about a buzz cut!
Im on my morning walk and passing by gardeners using leaf blowers. I love the smell of 2 stoke oil in the morning! I can literally taste it in my mouth. Its so nasty.
I would think if OSHA really looked at it would ban the use as an occupational hazard.
That oil is landing on your plants, trees and garden vegetables and fruits.
A few years back I bought one for my gardeners to use around my house because of the noise and pollution.
I like Dan's idea of going after the homeowners.
Ultimately, the advancements in battery tech has easily made it easier and less expensive. Charging each night and in the trucks is more efficient that trips to the gas station and electricity so much cheaper.
As I was driving by mother Doughs on Sunday I saw a group of people on the sidewalk, as I passed I realized the group on the sidewalk was the end of the line of about 30 people waiting to get in to buy their bagels! I’ve been wanting to try it I guess I’ll have to go early
Very popular place
We hear gas powered leaf blowers constantly. Each homeowner has a different gardener and their schedules vary so it seems like there is almost always a blower blasting away around our neighborhood. So much for peace and quiet. We can’t fix schedules but we can require battery powered blowers which are much quieter. Our gardener uses an electric blower and it substantially reduces the noise. Life would be better with electric blowers.
I mean…he’s not wrong. It would have been faster for you. Just saying.
Bistro Amasa because they can. Coke, $6; Lox & Bagel, $40: Steak Frittes, $57. Wow.
Very nice to see the watercolor art, and landscape photos.
If you continue to put art in the web edition, it might help local artists like me, and it makes for a good read. Siteline could be a sort of rolling art gallery online.
A simple solution to noisy gasoline powered leaf blowers as to simply purchase a rechargeable battery powered leaf blower. I have an 80V blower that lasts 45 minutes on one charge and is extremely powerful.
Noise problem solved…
Very good article
Unfortunately as part of Tyler's closing for remodel, they laid off all their employees with zero notice. Showed up to work and were told to go home. I won't be going there when they reopen.
That’s the abominable snowman from the classic Rudolph cartoon
Well said Dan. A nice addendom to the ban would be to require the user to NOT wear hearing protective devices or wear a mask.
I've been working as a gardener in Montecito and SB since Ronald Reagan was president. And as a working gardener I voted for the gas leaf blower ban by the city of SB. Having worked at San Ysidro Ranch, The Biltmore, and El Encanto I always used a blower on the lowest setting so I didn't bother the guests by noise or dust. I think I'm the exemption.
This proposed ban will do nothing, as the residents of Santa Barbara know. Even back in the day when residents would call the cops on someone using an illegal blower, the cops wouldn't write a ticket unless they saw the poor sap using the blower, or the reporting party filed a report. I know this because I was the poor sap on several occasions. And guess what? I never paid fine. I showed up to court four times and every time either the reporting party of the cop that wrote the ticket didn't show. Case dismissed.
If the Montecito Association wants to do something they should go after the homeowners, the property owners that allow their gardeners to use leaf blowers on ear splitting volumes. And they could start with Oprah W., speaking for myself.
I work next door to her and every Friday morning from 9 to 12 there are three or four gas leaf blowers going full blast. How about we start at the top? Then work down to the poor saps that honestly, don't even have a clue how annoying their use of leaf blowers is. . . .
The ad in the Independent is correct. I was also on the non-human designed craft with Barney Hill of New Hampshire and can confirm that there were no buckle down charirs!
Beautiful watercolor!
Wow... "there's always Google..."
Totally agree, and they need a fundraiser to finance this blight on nature
604 Santa Barbara Street, across from the new SBPD headquarters under construction. Happy to help but of course there's always Google....
Could we get Mother Dough's address? It's not evident on their website
You happen to be in the minority of cases, so nice for you. Your class of housing is also not what’s housing most of the renters in SB. SB’s population is not going to be housed by people renting their single units like you are.
You’re right. No, it’s not a money hack to provide housing for SB’s population. It’s a business. People don’t build and maintain apartment buildings for fun.
My reading is that it applies to most apartment buildings, which amount to most rentals, in SB. It’s pretty radical.
The justification is mostly knee-jerk and emotional. Anecdotes like “I grew up here and I deserve to be able to live here,” or “I’m going to be homeless.”
No, and no. You’ll be homeless if you believe you’re so entitled to live in one of the nicest places on Earth that you’ll choose homelessness here over the presumably more rational but less dramatic choice, which is moving somewhere you can afford.
What this will do for sure, as proven by decades of research, is drive prices up and quality down in the long-run. Nobody, but nobody, is taking a chance of building housing in a city with a radical city council driven by emotion rather than economics.
Glad to see the City take the minimalist and long-term least-expensive route with Francheschi. A little-used location with a house that was not particularly historical. Not popular with all but a responsible decision…
Your critiques of properties are spot on!
Wow, thank you for saying this so eloquently. It's so very important to read the fine print/details.
As someone who grew up camping down Paradise Road, with many family members living in the cabins on forestry land, I do not support this new development. Is there no where anymore that people won't build. Can we just not leave the forestry land alone and enjoy the beauty when we camp or go to the little water holes. Sad that someone buys this vacant land and thinks let's build and add more traffic to an area not needing it. Personally I hope it takes years to get approved and built.
