Help Shape the Future for Eastern Goleta Valley

Noozhawk / Residents are invited to participate in facilitating an update to the Goleta Community Plan

Santa Barbara County and the Goleta Valley Planning Advisory Committee are facilitating an update to the Goleta Community Plan to guide land use and development for the unincorporated Goleta Valley for the next 10 to 20 years.

The following are upcoming opportunities to get involved:

» Take the Goleta Valley Community Survey online. Click here or call 805.568.3380 to request a paper copy of the survey. The deadline is June 19.

» Attend the next GVPAC public meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the County Planning Commission Hearing Room, 105 E. Anapamu St.

» Attend the GVPAC community workshop at 9 a.m. July 11 at Vieja Valley School, 434 Nogal Drive in Santa Barbara.

For more information, click here or call the Office of Long Range Planning at 805.568.3380.

Goleta Valley Voice Letter: Wake Up, Noleta

The letter we mentioned below, "Noleta residents backed into corner" also appears in this weeks Goleta Valley Voice. (Click here for the letter.)

Wake up, Noleta

If you live near AG-zoned or other undeveloped parcels, you are between a rock and a hard spot.

When a developer proposes to build on that parcel, you can:

• Do nothing, which will result in gargantuan McMansions such as those built creekside of Foothill School, or those currently being built at Kellogg and Camino Campana.

• Spend countless hours of your time and energy trying to “mitigate the negative impacts” which will result in earth-toned, slightly scaled-down McMansions, such as the almost 6,000 sq. ft. homes recently approved by the Planning Commission for 1118 N. Patterson Ave., the former Sexton home and ranch.

However, be forewarned that if you choose the latter, you can expect (despite a united protest by 33 immediate and nearby neighbors) to receive a humiliating, public dressing-down for your selfish and “troubling attitude” in thinking that neighboring property owners have any rights vis-à-vis developers.

This tongue-lashing will come from two of the North County Planning Commissioners, particularly 3rd District Commissioner David Smyser.

It will also be suggested that if you don’t like that huge, new, multimillion-dollar house looking into your windows and backyard (from previously zoned AG land), you should buy it yourself.

Furthermore, you can rest assured that, even though over 60 neighbors signed a petition addressing concerns over traffic speeding along North Patterson Avenue, 4th District Commissioner Joe Valencia has driven that road “several times” and found that speeding is not a problem.

Mary and Ender Kuntsal
Noleta

Thoughts?

News-Press Letter: Noleta residents backed into corner

Also over at the Santa Barbara News-Press, March 9th edition, Mary and Ender Kunstal have written a letter to Goleta neighbors who live near ag-zoned parcels in the unincorporated area between Santa Barbara and Goleta, stating "you are between a rock and a hard place".

They go on to give two options for residents when a developer proposes to build on a parcel.

An interesting read, and kind of a slap since the authors referenced the recently approved "earth-toned, slightly scaled-down McMansions, such as the almost 6,000 square-foot homes in the 1100 block of North Patterson Avenue", "despite a united protest by 33 neighbors".

Click here to read the entire letter. (Must be a subscriber to view.)

LAFCO: Sphere of Influence Changes

The regular meeting of the Santa Barbara Local Agency Formation Commission will be held on Thursday, March 1, 2007 at 2pm in the Board of Supervisors Hearing Room, 105 East Anapamu Street, Fourth Floor, Santa Barbara, California.

Of particular interest for Goleta Valley residents is:

Proposed Sphere of Influence Changes

Proposal by the Committee for One, endorsed by the City of Santa Barbara, to expand the City of Santa Barbara Sphere of Influence. The proposal area consists of the Eastern Goleta Valley extending from the current Sphere of Influence to the City of Goleta.