I miss the old days when it was the spandex riders hogging the traffic lanes. But those days have been gone for five or six years, now replaced by yahoos on ebikes riding with no regard for their own safety and others. (And again this morning I saw a girl riding fast on lower State street with her helmet unfastened.) PS, Your posts here are full of assumptions and your opinion, I posted exactly what I saw in the space of just a few hours on Monday.
A reasonable concern to be sure, and one that I suspect we all agree with. Where opinions may differ is where the responsibility lies. The conversation here seems
limited to controlling and regulating the bikes. Anecdotally, my observation is that most injuries and deaths related to motor vehicles are actually the fault of the vehicle driver, not the pedestrian (or cyclist). So in my opinion it may be more effective to shift the conversation to the cars from the bikes. To be clear, I do not own a e-bike, I’m not a frequent cyclist, and I love driving pretty much everywhere. I do take it as my responsibility to operate my vehicle safely and I expect other drivers to do the same. Unfortunately, I frequently observe drivers who are either distracted, inattentive, or perhaps incompetent. It’s my opinion that these individuals present a much greater danger to everyone.
The issue here is that I don't want to kill someone's child, which seems pretty urgent to me.
It sounds an awful lot like a bunch of grumpy people yelling “get off my lawn!” in here.
Perhaps there are more impactful or pressing issues we can focus on?
Appreciate your POV Paul. Notwithstanding the specifics re San Ysidro, I often hear of business and residential owners (with very reputable architects) saying the review process is too slow and often depends on 'whom' you get at the city whether you are moved through quickly or not. The 'chatter' isn't great when it comes to the city planning department and, with what we pay in property taxes, we deserve better.....
First rule of SB Hives is don’t talk about SB Hives. Come on people.
Typically it's due to the competence or lack thereof of the land use consultant/engineer/draftsperson submitting the application and plans. If you submit bad plans, you don't get your permits, and that's apparently what has happened here.
I assume you are talking about the property at 516 San Ysidro Rd. That's permit number 23BDP-01486. Plug the address or that number into here: https://aca-prod.accela.com/SBCO/Default.aspx , and you can see all of the actions taken by the Planning & Development thus far. The application was submitted to the Dept. on 12/5/2023, and it was marked as pending application fee payment same day. The fees weren't paid until 1/8/2024, which is a one month delay in any progress caused by the applicant themselves. It got moved to plan check review on 1/24/2024, and on 2/12/2024 they finished their review, determined that the plans didn't meet California Building Code, and needed corrections from the applicant. The applicant submitted new plans on 6/7/2024, and, again, on 7/8/2024, the plans got rejected as being out of compliance with California Building Code.
If the person drafting the plans had done it right the first time, they would have been done on 2/12/2024. There would have been some additional paperwork from other agencies and some other fees to pay, and after that was taken care of the building permit would have probably been issued early to mid March. Get rid of that delay in paying the fees, and it would have potentially been issued in early to mid February. A two month turn-around time for a building permit doesn't sound lengthy at all.
Tyde's in '25? Not a chance
It’s a shame that the Sandpiper clubhouse will be torn down. Those buildings are architectural modernist gems.
I agree these bikes are a real safety problem and it's not only kids, I know adults who regularly drive them at unsafe speeds.
Norton’s?
It’s even worse on the bike paths—which should be dedicated to traditional bikes, walkers and joggers. I have regularly had to deal with e-bikes accelerating at 30+miles per hour while biking. Someone is going to be seriously harmed if these e-bikes continue to use bike paths with impunity.
The pizza at Santa Barbara Hives is out of this world. It’s so good!
I worked there during most of the 80's as a bartender and one of the DJ's. It was so much fun when that dance floor was packed every weekend. I miss the place immensely, all the good times and so many people that we lost and those who lost touch. It wasn't huge like Studio One in West Hollywood or anything great like that but it certainly packed a big punch in a tiny spot. To all who remember I hope you had as much fun as we did.
I agree about the kids on these bikes. I have run across this problem on Micheltorena where it crosses San Andres. It has been at times when kids were getting out of school and I was surprised to see so many young kids riding E bikes. They weren't riding properly and I made sure to stay way back, so I did not hit or get hit by them.
What this town needs is a classic diner/deli. A sit down, preferably in a booth, or at a counter, order a pastrami on rye with a large pickle and a cup of soup type of place. Where the menus are large, the food fresh and varied and the staff quick with the check. Like the great deli's and diners of LA and NY.
Instead we end up with more copies of mediocrity that will inevitably fail within a year.
How do you make a small fortune in the restaurant business? You start with a large fortune.
Bah bum bump
Erik: If you can see the film Taking Venice (it just ran at the SBIIF Riviera), it is an excellent adjunct to the Rauschenberg exhibit at SBMAA. It tells the story of the Venice Biennale in the early 1960's where Rauschenberg first became an international name. It has all sorts of behind the scenes art world skullduggery and is a fascinating story
Erik. So many restaurants are 'waiting on the city' (ALMA for 2+ years...enough already!!!!!) or 'working through the county's permit process' (Graham Duncan's place).... What is happening? You hear this all the time whether it be business or residential. Why is our city SO SLOW and (seemingly) anti business.????? The pandemic (the reason for the years of excuses is over...). Perhaps someone could do a deep dive into what is happening here with the permit office. We 'hear' some get through rather quickly while others just drone on....for months and years. We deserve better!!!
Frankly, I find the e-bike riders considerably less annoying than the traditional spandex-clad cyclists who have no qualms about riding 2+ wide in the road with cars, not obeying traffic rules or signals, and not using the designated bike lanes even when they exist. Up to this point, I’d wager that the vast majority of people killed or injured on a bicycle are riding a traditional bicycle not an e-bike.
It would be great if everybody would stop trying to control everybody else. If that’s something we just can’t do then perhaps it would be an equally good idea to start requiring physical driving tests for people who get into accidents and for people over a certain age. Vision, hearing, reflexes, and mental acuity are all affected by age.
I’m perplexed why local government leaders and the police seem to show little interest in these children and their parents. I’d like to see action before terrible accidents happen.
I'm a local. The food is quite good, if pricey. But the exteriors are ordinary, at best. If the buildings were in upstate New York I wouldn't be surprised to see a refrigerator on the porch.
The Lobero
Here's two incidents from yesterday morning. First was around 8am, I was driving down Anacapa, I turned right onto Gutierrez street where the right lane was coned off for construction of that gawd-awful five story building. At least ten cars in front of me when suddenly a guy on a Rad bike flies by me in the coned off lane! He was in the lane with the construction workers! I thought, "aren't traffic fines doubled in construction zones?" Where's a cop when you need one? The second was a few hours later and I'm on Cabrillo heading to the harbor, before I got to State street two guys on motocross e-bikes pass me on the right and stop for the red light, both were wearing regular motocross helmets. The light turns green and they take off, I caught up with them after a block as the front guy slowed down. I'm passing him, he's riding in the bike lane, and he pops a wheelie and continues to ride in the bike lane. (For a second I thought I could tap him with my truck since he did have a full motor cycle helmet on but of course I didn't.) I will admit that I drifted into the bike lane for the remainder to the red light at Castillo. I put on my turn signal to turn right and they did not try to pass me, I think they got the message that I might be a little cray-cray. . . And it's not just kids, I've had two encounters with old men on those big wheeled bikes as I walked on the sidewalk on Montecito street. I guess the bikes are too big to pass cars on the right so they take the sidewalk and come close to hitting me! Last, I own five bikes and one is a e-mountain bike. I hate it, don't ride it and should sell it.
Bike riders, whether electrically motorized or not, need to exercise basic etiquette: pass only on the left, and call it out verbally or with a bell. These obnoxious children growing up in a generation that no longer have physical conflicts with peers are graced by Santa Barbara motorists, who while not perfect (I'm not either) are among the most polite I've ever experienced as a cyclist. Note that children under the age of twenty nine on ebikes do not have a developed frontal cortex. No manners, no ebike. Amusing how they all ride the same type of bike, with the same helmets, all unbuckled the same, all with one fist wrapped around the iPhone, and my experience is there is no separation across gender which are the more rude and self-indulgent. Don't bother going to the parents to complain: the sociopathic child does not fall far from its tree. As for a solution, if the bike has a throttle, it should be licensed to someone a minimum twenty nine years of age. Separate subject, but, mountain bikers on Santa Barbara hiking trails, whether electrically motorized or not, whether adult or child, likewise lack basic frontal cortex function and etiquette. All motorized bikes should be prohibited from hiking trails in Santa Barbara County.
I feel that class 3 e-bikes with throttles should be banned for minors and licensed for all others.
Unfortunately because of the proliferation of e-bikes which many are just e motorcycles in disguise HELMETS need to be mandatory for all bike riders just like motorcycles. Law enforcement does not have the time to differentiate whether the bike rider is 17 or 23
