••• The city is hosting meetings on October 15 and 17 to discuss the Milpas Street Crosswalk Safety and Sidewalk Widening Project, which caused consternation last year when it became clear that the city wanted to cut down a lot of the magnificent street trees. That plan has changed, somewhat: “The upcoming meetings will provide a design update to include intersection illustrations with new curb alignments, walkway improvements, bus stop features, accessibility upgrades, and various safety improvements. Of the 95 street trees in the Project area, 82 will be protected, and 13 will be removed. Of the 13 trees to be removed, eight are Laurel Fig (Ficus) trees and five are non-Ficus trees. About 37 locations have been identified for new street trees, pending further evaluation. All tree removals and replacements will be reviewed by the City’s Street Tree Advisory Committee and the Parks & Recreation Commission in November.”
••• Press release: “Starting October 1, Visit Santa Barbara is bringing back its locals-only lodging promotion, offering 30% discounts for residents from Goleta to Carpinteria who book overnight trips to the Santa Barbara South Coast. The deals apply to stays between October 2024 and early 2025 at more than a dozen properties. […] Area residents can extend the offer to their visiting friends and relatives.” Here’s the list of properties.
••• The Santa Barbara Association of Realtors says that the city of Santa Barbara “is looking to ban most signs, including ‘Open House’ signs.” I find them handy and hardly a nuisance—and the city could surely put its energy to better use elsewhere.
••• On October 10, there will be a free screening of Return of the Jedi at the Lobero Theatre to celebrate local artist DJ Javier’s new Star Wars–themed collection for Stance, primarily known for its socks.
••• The NatureTrack Film Festival is October 11-13 at the Camino Real Marketplace and Camino Real Cinemas in Goleta: “This year’s festival will screen over 80 films across three days […] with the mission: To Ignite a Passion for Nature through Film.”
••• Lotusland is hoping to add a new visitors’ restroom, according to the October 3 agenda of the Montecito Board of Architectural Review.
••• The Avett Brothers play the Santa Barbara Bowl on April 11.
••• A new book for fans of the Channel Islands: “Born out of a curiosity about ‘what is out there,’ Justin Fantl explored the four northern Channel Islands off the coast of Santa Barbara over a span of four years. Photographing the landscapes that he encountered, Fantl […] compiled a unique record of the islands as nuanced spaces and places, as lands that can shed light on the human relationship to environment, decay and flux. Dubbed Santa Rosae, his first monograph is a journey through places that feel both timeless and fixed.”
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Sant Barbara should ban “Open House” signs. Realtors park in the red and aimlessly cross the street to put their signs. Plus houses are no longer open. You’ve to sign a contract with the realtor just to view the house.
Or, crazy idea here, we just enforce our existing laws on parking in the red, jaywalking, and offsite signage rather than create even more laws banning a perfectly legal activity occurring on private property to try and prevent activities that are already illegal.
As of the first of this year, jaywalking is no longer a crime in the state of California.
is this legislation sponsored by the undertaker lobby… jes askin.
Ban real estate mailings! Cristal Clarke mails us one of her self promotional mailings at least 4 times a week. Probably 200 mailings a year. They go right into the trash and assure that we will NEVER use or recommend her services for anything to anyone. She is an enourmous litterbug. Maybe the biggest in town. What a tremendous waste of resources and energy.
Hope you’re reading this Cristal. It’s time for you to retire this practice and maybe think about retiring yourself as well. What a stain you’ve left on the community in pursuit of your own self interests. Millions of these trashy mailings litter the landfill because of you. Do better.
I have no idea who Cristal is, but I too hate the endless real estate, living will, tree care mailbox stuffs. Enough!
Sam, just chuck the mailings in the recycling bin…
She is an incredibly successful real estate professional and I doubt you get 4 a week. I actually enjoy them.
Cut a glorious tree and put in a vine. I am furious about tree butchers ruining our county! Trees are more important and should be the priority! Just like the 6 lane 101 Freeway, trees. butchered. Three lanes were just fine. Who designed that monstrosity? Destroying the beauty of our coastline. The last years of my life in chaos. If these are elected officials, I want to know. Whoever has made these decisions clearly have zero common sense. Damn morons!
I agree!
Lots of removal of historical in Santa Barbara have been removed!
Who are these people making these changes & where are they from?
These trees should not be removed! Horrible!!!
Open house signs… yeahhh… finally the city focuses on the important stuff in our community… i was worried for a second…
Likely the City is just updating their sign ordinances in response to court rulings in order to keep the sign ordinance constitutional and enforceable, just as the County is doing right now.
Finally, The City of SB is working on something very important, banning open house signs. But first they should hire Blue Ribbon consultants to steer them in the right direction. And while they are at it why not just rip out all of the magnificent trees on Milpas ? They are doing a magnificent job of destroying this town.!! If they want to get rid of a sign eyesore how about going after people that don’t take their garage signs down on the same day the sale ends?
I wish SB County would ban the use of gas powered leaf blowers. They are an assault on our senses and wrong on many levels.
Agree on the leaf blowers, and don’t remove trees!!
We need shade!!