••• From the Santa Barbara Zoo: “Mary Lou, the Zoo’s American alligator, passed away over the weekend. At 58 years old, Mary Lou was not only the oldest animal at the Santa Barbara Zoo, but also the longest-term resident. The Zoo’s first director, Ted McToldridge, recalls when Mary Lou first arrived in 1964: ‘A little boy showed up at the Zoo one day, holding out a shoebox with two little alligators inside, and said ‘Mister, will you take care of my alligators? My mommy won’t let me keep them.'”
••• Santa Barbara Better Together asked me to encourage you—and I do!—to donate toward its goal to raise $100,000 by March 1: “We’re on a mission to make it so that no small business in Santa Barbara County is forced to close.” Impressively, the organization has raised over $1 million so far and given grants to around 150 small businesses throughout the county. Read more about the mission and how grants are carried out on the organization’s website, and donate here.
••• The BCycle e-bike rental program launches this Thursday, January 28.
••• “We all have a unique opportunity to weigh in on recreation planning in Santa Barbara County,” emailed the Montecito Trails Foundation. “The county is going through its planning process and one of the first steps is to collect input from stakeholders via their Recreation Master Plan Survey. Now is the time to let them know that you want to see more trails! You can even leave specific notes about where you would like to see more development. Please take a few minutes to be heard on this 21 question survey! As simple as it seems, this is a meaningful way to make a difference.”
••• A comment from John regarding Southwest airfares: “I just checked prices and it’s $39 each way to Oakland in April. Crazy!”
••• I don’t get to Goleta that often, so this is a couple of months past being news, but the Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital has interesting plans for an aquatic rehab facility in the works.
••• The January 28 agenda of the Montecito Board of Architectural Review includes something you don’t see that often in these parts: “a single family dwelling of approximately 4,208 square feet, a wholly underground basement of approximately 4,176 square feet, a garage of approximately 807 square feet, a cabana of approximately 405 square feet and an outdoor storage structure of approximately 405 square feet.” There’s no address, but the Assessor’s Parcel Number seems to be for a lot off Santa Rosa Lane.
••• From the January 25 consent agenda of the city’s Architectural Board of Review: “Proposal to remodel the 675-square-foot office and restroom facilities at the Las Positas tennis courts located in Elings Park. The project includes reframing walls, removing doors and windows, and remodeling restrooms to meet ADA compliance. The roof is proposed to be removed and replaced or replaced with like for like if the condition of the roof is not salvageable. The proposal includes improvements of exterior stairs, accessible ramps, new permeable paving, new landscaping and irrigation and to repave and restripe the parking lot.”
••• And on the agenda for a January 29 meeting of the city’s Architectural Board of Review is the “four-story mixed-use project” at 825 De La Vina (Canon Perdido/De La Guerra) “on a site currently developed with a private surface level parking lot using the Average Unit-Size Density program. Project entails construction of a 19,767 square foot, 21 unit rental complex, with 380 square feet dedicated to commercial floor area.” The project isn’t news, but these drawings are.
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