A few important points were missed in the Oct. 8 Noozhawk article, “Hotels vs. Housing a Developing Flashpoint Gripping Santa Barbara.”
First, I’m always suspicious when a developer wants to tell us what is cost-effective or “pencils out.” The developer has an interest in a playing field tilted in his direction.
I wish there were some standard for construction costs or a demonstration project from an unbiased source the City of Santa Barbara could use as a metric.
Second, to the developer who whines about needing “more height” to make a project even more profitable, I say build outside of El Pueblo Viejo, our protected historic landmark district.
The downtown district is height-restricted for historical reasons; don’t spoil it for everyone so you can make another buck.
Third, nobody mentioned hotels’ perpetual contribution to our housing dilemma. It’s not just because that acreage goes to hotel rooms instead of permanent housing. It’s even worse.
By some estimates, a three-star hotel requires a 3-to-1 employee-to-room ratio. Building more hotels will require even more low-wage employees who already cannot find local housing.
It’s not a straight hotel room to housing trade-off. It’s worse!
Fourth, if land prices are so high here in Santa Barbara, and the city approval and permitting processes are so onerous, why do developers keep lining up to build more hotels here?
Builders should go somewhere else where the land costs are less, building is easier and the cities want the tourist business.
Finally, it was mentioned that Santa Barbara’s existing hotels have about a 30% vacancy rate. That’s only bound to go up if more hotel rooms get built.
If developers want projects that — when built — will have close to a 0% vacancy rate, build affordable housing! You can be either part of the problem or part of the solution.
Richard Closson
Santa Barbara
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A week ago, Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and killed, raped, tortured and kidnapped hundreds and hundreds of men, women and children — old and young alike.
All of it is barbaric and evil, but I want to specifically ask my sisters in Santa Barbara why they are completely silent on the rape, torture, public humiliation and murder of the women and girls?
Surely they’ve seen the photos and videos that the terrorists have posted online. In one, a Jewish woman is pulled around by her hair while she is bleeding from between her legs.
Another is of a half-naked Jewish woman face down in the back of a truck full of men with their feet on her body, and with her legs obviously broken and bent unnaturally behind her.
Those were posted online on the first day of the invasion.
Where are Santa Barbara’s female champions of women’s rights? Like Lois and Laura Capps, Hannah-Beth Jackson, Helene Schneider, Cathy Murillo, Monique Limón?
And where’s the Santa Barbara Women’s March crowd with their pink pussy hats? Where’s Planned Parenthood?
Israeli women are fighting for their bodies, their lives and their children, but all I’ve all heard from Santa Barbara’s leading feminists is crickets. Why?
C. Gonzalez
Santa Barbara
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