••• Many different opinions were expressed at the recent public meeting about restaurant parklets, reports the Independent. More relevant, however, was this: “One person not at the meeting was City Administrator Rebecca Bjork, who has earned criticism behind closed doors for recommending the city put an end to the parklets.”
••• “The Santa Barbara Historic Landmarks Commission wants State Street parklets smaller and gone altogether everywhere else in the El Pueblo Viejo District. The panel voted unanimously 8-0 on Wednesday to slash the parklets down to minimal conditions. Business owners must remove all roofs and anything that hangs overhead, but could keep small, low vertical structures. […] The City Council will consider the HLC’s recommendation and is scheduled to vote on the fate of the parklets at a meeting Tuesday.” —Noozhawk
••• Dirt has the lowdown on the buyers involved in three recent real-estate transactions: 1) “Automotive industry mogul Dave Cantin and his wife, the former Dina Manzo, who is widely known to the public for starring in the first two table-flipping seasons of ‘The Real Housewives of New Jersey,’ spent $15.9 million on a Montecito house. 2) “Jeff Abrams has officially added another piece to his ever-growing Montecito residential puzzle—the historic El Mirador estate.” Hold up! I predicted this! “The founder and creative director of Los Angeles-based Rails, a rapidly growing contemporary global lifestyle brand currently valued at more than $100 million, has forked over $15.4 million for the house immediately right next door to a pair of neighboring parcels he already bought in two separate deals for a total of almost $17 million.” 3) “High-tech entrepreneurs Mark Armenante and Young Sohn are expanding their local real estate holdings once again, this time tacking on a rural avocado farm” in Carpinteria for $6.3 million. The post neglects to mention that Armenante and Sohn may have use for a farm: they recently bought The Palms restaurant/apartment building in Carp, and their New York City restaurant, One White Street, also has a farm component.
••• “The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office has released more details regarding the suspect vehicle connected to the 2022 murder” of Violet Evelyn Alberts. “New photos have been released, extracted from a closed-circuit video camera, along with a second request that members of the public reach out with any information they may have about the suspects associated with the vehicle, suspected to be a 2015-2018 white Porsche Cayenne. Detectives are specifically asking for assistance from Los Angeles area residents as they have discovered the white Porsche traveled from Los Angeles to Montecito on the evening of the murder.” —Edhat
••• “Popular At-Home Nurse Program for New Santa Barbara Families to End [….] Welcome Every Baby, a Free Postpartum Service for 22 Years, Will Stop Care June 30.” Leader Traile “Easland and WEB’s four part-time nurses currently see around 550 families annually, she said, and the program costs approximately $350,000 to operate. It’s been available to anyone and everyone, including those who can’t afford a postpartum doula or private lactation consultant, as well as residents who don’t qualify for assistance through the county’s Public Health Department.” That’s chump change for a lot of people in Montecito. Time to step up, folks. —Independent
••• Construction is slated to start in the winter of 2024 on “a roundabout at the intersection of Highway 154 and Baseline Avenue/Edison Street […] about two miles north of the roundabout at the intersection of highways 154 and 246 east of Santa Ynez.” —Noozhawk
••• “Against a backdrop of sinking cannabis tax revenues, the county Board of Supervisors took steps this month to get tough with growers who fail to report their revenues from cultivation or to pay their quarterly taxes on time. At a June 6 hearing, the board unanimously proposed that the county should not renew the business licenses of growers who miss even one quarterly deadline for tax reporting. The deadlines include a 30-day grace period. Since business licenses are valid for one year only, late filers would eventually be forced to shut down. To date, the county has never failed to renew a single cannabis business license.” —Newsmakers
••• From a press release on Noozhawk: “With new regulations in place, the city’s goal is to encourage bicyclists and pedestrians to enjoy the State Street Promenade safely and with consideration of others. To that end, in the next few weeks, the city will be engaging in a public education campaign on the proper use of the promenade.” How about a little less education and a little more enforcement?
••• “The Santa Barbara Planning Commission showed support for a proposed 99-unit apartment project at the site of Tri-County Produce on the Eastside, but some members stressed that they would like to see a better design and more affordable units.” Planning commissioner Sheila Lodge “noted that the development included only 10 units of below-market rate apartments, which is the percentage required by the state. Lodge said she doesn’t want anyone to be fooled into thinking the project is doing anything to solve Santa Barbara’s affordable housing needs.” —Noozhawk
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