At the northeast corner of N. Patterson Avenue and the northbound Highway 101 offramp, there’s a long pole with devices on the top and a flashing blue light at the base. What is it? —M.
That’s at 80 N. Patterson Avenue, where the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Barbara is constructing Patterson Point, a 24-unit apartment building, for the former homeless and a manager. Here’s a rendering:
I got no response from the contractor, Vortex Construction, but I think the Los Angeles Daily News already answered the question, albeit about a different location. According to an article from August 2024, the pole is most likely a mobile security unit to protect construction equipment.
LVT, or LiveView Technologies, is out of Utah and has produced thousands of such trailers holding box-like containers and solar-power panels, each with a pole pointing skyward. […] There are cameras on them, so a third-party surveillance company or someone else can watch what is going on in real time. […] The goal isn’t to catch the riffraff—it is to let people know they are being watched and to behave or the police will be called. Hence, the continuous blue flashing light—a color used on law enforcement vehicles—to get the attention of passersby.
Indeed, Futronix is an Oxnard-based company that, among other things, offers “Temporary Construction / Job site Cameras (for Purchase or Rental).”
A few people have written in over recent years to ask about the County Housing Authority project—or at least I thought that’s what they were asking about. When I went to check out the pole, I realized that there’s another project across N. Patterson at 5317 Calle Real (below). It’s three stories and 27 units, which will be market-rate.
Got a question you’d like investigated? Email sitelinesb@gmail.com or text 917-209-6473.
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Previous Burning Questions:
••• What are these sculptures on the Riviera?
••• What’s the origin story of this fence on Hot Springs Road?
↓↓↓ What’s the housing development under construction next to the polo fields?
••• Why is part of this West Beach mosaic covered in concrete?
••• What was the Weeping Willow Inn?
••• What does the “S” on certain chimneys stand for?
••• What’s the status of the decommissioning of Rincon Island?
••• What happened to the gas flame on Highway 101?
••• What do we know about the proposed apartment complex at 1 Hot Springs Road?
••• What’s the history of this tower on Ortega Ridge?
••• What’s up with these sculptures on a hillside in Summerland?
••• Is there a master plan for the new walking paths in Montecito?
••• Why are the Thousand Steps still wet?
••• What’s happening with Sola Street?
••• Why are trees being cut down above the San Ysidro Ranch?
••• Why is this lot on Milpas Street still vacant?
••• Where else do cruise ships that visit here go?
••• What is this large memorial in Ennisbrook?
••• Who bought the former St. Mary’s seminary—and why?
••• What will happen to the SBPD building when the new building is completed?
••• How does the city decide to mark bike lanes?
••• What’s the story with this house on W. Cota Street?
••• What are those little houses on Santa Barbara Street?
••• Is the Music Academy of the West adding pedestrian gates?
••• Why does the Coast Village Road median look so bad?
••• What’s the point of this light pole near the freeway?
••• Why are the city’s parking lots scanning license plates?
••• What’s inside Paseo Nuevo’s State Street tower?
••• What’s the point of these markings on Laguna Street?
••• Why is there a giant red shoe off Highway 101?
••• Are we no longer allowed on the SBHS baseball field?
••• What does “SBTP” on this post mean?
••• What’s up with the “no e-bike” signs on local trails?
••• Why is Franceschi House in a holding pattern?
••• What’s happening with this derelict house in Summerland?
••• Why is there wood on some power lines?
••• Can you explain how sundowner winds work?
••• Why is there a pressure cooker attached to this utility pole?
••• What’s this concrete ramp thing on East Beach?
••• Why does “USA” get written on the street?
••• What are those poles in the ocean near the Ritz-Carlton Bacara?
••• Are people really allowed to set fires in the middle of Montecito?
••• What’s the story with the half-finished lot next to the Montecito Country Mart?
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There seems to be one at Ralph’s on Carrillo, too