••• There was a groundbreaking for the 10,000-square-foot Michael Towbes Library Plaza (rendering above), which “will connect the Santa Barbara Library, and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and is near the Granada Theater. […] Construction is expected to start on the plaza this summer, with plans calling for it to be completed by the end of the year.” —KCLU
••• “Covid-19 cases in Santa Barbara County are steadily rising, but the number of patients being treated in local hospitals and intensive-care units has remained stable and relatively low.” —Noozhawk
••• The city’s Architectural Board of Review sent Chick-fil-A’s plan to address traffic issues back to the drawing board. —Noozhawk
••• From a press release on Edhat: Starting tomorrow, May 9, you can pay for parking at downtown lots with your phone. Scanning the QR code on your ticket will bring up a payment portal, and then the gate should automatically open once you approach.
••• Hot Springs trailhead parking, part 1: “Four Montecito homeowners have won a temporary injunction to block Santa Barbara County from moving forward on a plan to install parking spaces along East Mountain Drive near the Hot Springs Trailhead. Superior Court Judge Donna Geck concluded that the county’s parking plan cannot move forward until it is determined whether an environmental review is needed.” —Noozhawk
••• Hot Springs trailhead parking, part 2: After a contentious discussion about the matter at last week’s meeting of county supervisors, Das Williams told Noozhawk that he rejected the rumor that the county has plans to add 62 spaces in the area:
Williams said 62 spaces is the theoretical maximum number of spaces that could be installed, a number mentioned first in a conversation by county Public Works Department Director Scott McGolpin. It was never a real number, he said.
“There is no proposal, there has never been a proposal to build 62 parking spots,” Williams said. Instead, he said he has proposed adding four parking spaces to the existing eight at the trailhead at the intersection of East Mountain Drive and Riven Rock Road and four “bit by bit.”
“That is essentially what they are suing over because that wasn’t a good enough deal for them,” Williams said of the four plaintiffs, Christopher Anderson, Ross Bagdasarian, Peter Barker and James Moreley.
••• Hot Springs trailhead parking, part 3: The subject was also discussed at the Montecito Association, where it came out that neighbors have offered to fund two dedicated park rangers to “quell poor behaviors, overnight camping and use.”
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