Debate Rages Over the 250-Room Garden Street Hotel

••• “The controversy over the proposed 250-room Garden Street hotel [at 101 Garden Street] in Santa Barbara will continue a little longer. A last-minute dump of documents from the developer and appellants over the weekend, along with hundreds of public comment letters that were not published before Tuesday’s meeting, forced the City Council to delay a vote on the project until Nov. 19.” —Noozhawk

••• The Montecito Journal sent out a “breaking news” email about how President Biden and Jill Biden were rumored have bought Olivia Newton-John’s former house in Santa Ynez. “But it seems this report has turned like a bottle of red wine,” said TMZ shortly after, “with Carey Kendall, the Newton-John family’s real estate agent at Village Properties, [insisting that] no one from the Biden family or the President’s camp has toured the ranch—ever!!!” Perhaps this will turn out to be true, but the listing is still live, and if the Montecito Journal issued a retraction, I missed it.

••• “A Recap of the District 1 S.B. City Council Candidate Forum” with Alejandra Gutierrez, Wendy Santamaria, and Cruzito Cruz. —Independent

••• The Helena Mason Art Gallery in the Funk Zone has closed. —Montecito Journal

••• “From February 2021 to July 2024, Councilmember [Alejandra] Gutierrez was absent, arrived late, or left early for at least 70 meetings. More specifically, she had completely missed 47 regular and special city council meetings during that period. […] some of these meetings included votes on some of the city’s biggest issues, such as housing and budgets.” —Independent

••• “Carp Neighbors Say New Pot Odor Plan Is Lame—and Being Rushed Before Das [Williams] Is Out; Growers Whine about Any Regs at All.” —Newsmakers

••• “Restoration of Santa Barbara’s Mission Creek Is Underway [….] Construction Expected to Be Completed by October; Revegetation Scheduled for this Fall.” —Independent

••• “Cottage Health has announced plans to offer 204 new homes in the Santa Barbara area to its employees to purchase at below-market prices starting in 2029. Two locations are slated for these new homes. Cottage plans to move its Rehabilitation Hospital at 2415 De la Vina Street to the Goleta Valley Cottage campus to create 44 new homes with parking. […] The second location is near Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital on South Patterson Avenue. A new housing project is already planned at this site and Cottage has entered an agreement to acquire 160 of those units for its employees.” —KEYT

••• “Goleta Library to Close for Up to 2 Years; City Seeks Temporary Home.” Construction will begin in April. —Noozhawk

••• After I posted about Ed St. George’s purchase of Andersen’s Pea Soup in Buellton, the Lompoc Record had more on his plans for it: “According to St. George, the agreement includes demolition of the aging building and development of a new restaurant while the name and operations remain with the Guggia family. […] In a nod to local history, construction of a 4,000-square-foot replacement eatery will take on features of Pea Soup’s predecessor, Andersen’s Electric Café, an establishment known for serving simple, wholesome everyday foods to highway travelers. […] St. George said he intends to revive this spirit while preserving the essence of the building, the oversized, outdoor signage, as well as much of the memorabilia that people have grown accustomed to since the ’50s.”

················

Sign up for the Siteline email newsletter and you’ll never miss a post.