Two Montecito residents appealed the next segment of the Highway 101 widening project, arguing that sound walls should be included, and the issue will be heard at Tuesday’s Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors meeting.
The Montecito segment of the Highway 101 project will add a part-time high occupancy vehicle lane (carpool lane) in both directions between Olive Mill Road and Sheffield Drive, and replace the bridges over Romero Creek, San Ysidro Creek, and Oak Creek.
The project was approved by the Montecito Planning Commission in August and the county Planning Commission in December.
Scott Smigel and Bruce Mackenzie both live near the highway and are objecting to the sound walls being replaced by chain-link fences in construction plans, due to flooding concerns.
Smigel is claiming it was an error to remove the sound walls based on the project’s environmental impact report and Flood Control’s assessment of FEMA recovery mapping.
Mackenzie said he wants the sound walls because he believes the air and sound pollution caused by the highway will impact him more than the possibility of flooding.
“There’s flooding in Montecito because there’s a tremendous drainage problem in Montecito,” Mackenzie wrote in his appeal letter.
“It’s something that happens for sure, but it’s rare relative to something that happens on a daily basis. So those of us who think that sound walls are a good idea think that on a daily basis, we’d like to have air pollution and noise pollution lessened in our lives.”
The appeals will be heard by the Board of Supervisors during Tuesday’s meeting, which starts at 9 a.m.
County planning staff recommend that the supervisors deny the appeals and uphold the project approval.
The project is part of the fourth phase of the Santa Barbara-to-Mussel Shoals widening project.
