Will the Dorinda Triangle Ever Get Beautified?

What’s going on with the vacant lot where Hot Springs Road and Olive Mill Road meet? I thought that since it’s an entrance to Montecito, the county’s Public Works Department might give it some priority. Instead, it has been used as a parking lot for heavy equipment. —L.

In December 2019, the Montecito Journal reported that the Montecito Community Foundation would be beautifying and maintaining the Dorinda Triangle, as I like to think of it. While I waited—to no avail—for a response from the MCF, I began pestering the Public Works Department. And I reached out to the woman who knows everything going on in Montecito, Sharon Byrne of the Montecito Association (which is different from the MCF). Sure enough, she had the scoop:

At our Transportation Committee meeting last week, Public Works Director Chris Sneddon reported that later this year Casa Dorinda will be restoring the triangle after the Public Works team finishes a bridge culvert repair there, scheduled for summer.

I subsequently heard back from Public Works itself, which had more color on the situation:

We are currently working with Casa Dorinda and the Santa Barbara Garden Club on a plan for the landscaping. In the meantime, we have two other projects in the area to address. The first is the Hot Springs Road Storm Damage Repairs (starting next month) and the second is the Hot Springs Road Bridge repair (starting summer 2021). You can find a little more info on these projects here. Once those projects (which are next to the triangle) are complete, we should be able to implement the plan for the triangle.

UPDATE: I heard from the MCF—we had a communication mix-up—and there should be more news about the triangle soon.

Got a question? Email [email protected] or text 917-209-6473.

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Previous Burning Questions:
••• Are we no longer allowed on the SBHS baseball field?
••• What does “SBTP” on this post mean?
••• What’s up with the “no e-bike” signs on local trails?
••• Why is Franceschi House in a holding pattern?
••• Why is there a train station inside this State Street storefront?
••• What’s happening with this derelict house in Summerland?
••• Is there a story behind Lucky Penny’s bell?
••• Why is there wood on some power lines?
••• What are these black beetles that are everywhere this spring?
••• Can you explain how sundowner winds work?
••• Why is there a pressure cooker attached to this utility pole?
••• What’s this concrete ramp thing on East Beach?
••• Why does “USA” get written on the street?
••• What are those poles in the ocean near the Ritz-Carlton Bacara?
••• Are people really allowed to set fires in the middle of Montecito?
••• What’s the story with the half-finished lot next to the Montecito Country Mart? 
••• Is the bridge over San Ysidro Creek ever going to get repaired?

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