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Noozhawk had an audience of 91,534 readers this past week, according to our Google Analytics. What follows is my take on the Top 5 stories you were reading during that period.
In other words, this is my opinion column, not a news story.
1. Proposed Apartment Project Draws Stern Criticism from Architectural Board of Review
Santa Barbara’s timeworn tradition of the pre-application hearing charade was back in the news with a 33-apartment project proposed for 425 Garden St. near downtown.
According to the ritual, project proponents make an appearance before the Planning Commission and/or the Architectural Board of Review with the most fantastical and ambitious plans imaginable, receive entirely observational feedback from the volunteer members, and then set to work on revisions that can earn an actual approval at some point far into the future.
There has got to be a better way — for all involved. But this is the process we have right now, however hackneyed and inefficient it is.
As our Josh Molina reported Nov. 20, the latest proposal was brought before the Architectural Board of Review by its architects, Bildsten Architecture and Planning, with an intent of filling the void of affordable housing closer to downtown.
Midblock on the west side of Garden between East Gutierrez and East Haley streets, the project site is currently a light industrial configuration adjacent to the east side of the Office Max and Smart & Final complex in the Garden Plaza shopping center.
The plans take maximum advantage of the City of Santa Barbara’s average unit-sized density incentive program, which permits bonus density in exchange for building apartments. The 48-foot-tall building would contain 33 of them in all, including two moderate-income units and five low-income ones.
The required open space would all be in an interior courtyard or on the roof, which would include a dog-run area. No actual parking is planned on site because, you know, this is Santa Barbara, but there would be a bike storage room, for the same reason.
ABR members were entirely unimpressed.
“This just seems like a diagram, kind of the rulebook, the maximum one could achieve on a site this size without any consideration for the local environment and the congestion it creates,” board member Richard Six said. “I find it very unfortunate.”
Board member Leon Olson called the lack of detail on the balconies overlooking Garden Street to be “disturbing.”
Josh has more commentary from the ABR, but the board’s basic conclusion seemed to be downsize and come back with a more realistic plan.
And time, money and attainable housing just march on for everyone.
2. Bill Macfadyen: Murder Charge Raises Stakes in Fatal Collision on Santa Barbara’s Carrillo Hill
There’s frustratingly little to report in the violent, Nov. 14 head-on collision that killed 71-year-old Steven Doyle Carlson of Santa Barbara.
The driver suspected of causing the wreck — 24-year-old José Fermin Lopez Jr. of Santa Barbara — was arrested that night and arraigned in his room at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital last week.
According to the criminal complaint, Lopez was charged with four felony counts: murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury, and driving with a blood-alcohol content of 0.08% or more. Also added were two special allegations of causing great bodily injury.
After his release from the hospital, Lopez was booked into Santa Barbara County Jail, where he remained as of Nov. 26. Bail was set at $2 million.
Doyle suffered severe injuries in the crash, which occurred around 8:20 p.m. on West Carrillo Street, about 200 yards below the Miramonte Drive intersection. He required extensive extrication by Santa Barbara firefighters and was rushed to Cottage Hospital, where he later died.
Santa Barbara police Sgt. Ethan Ragsdale said Critical Accident Reconstruction Team investigators believe Lopez was driving a Nissan sedan up Carrillo Hill “at a high rate of speed and without headlights on” when he crossed into the oncoming lane and plowed into Carlson’s Mercedes-Benz sedan.
“Officers believed Lopez was under the influence of alcohol, and a DUI investigation was completed,” he said.
Funeral services for Carlson were pending.
3. BizHawk: The Palms in Carpinteria Up for Sale for $9.85 Million
The Palms, the old-school Carpinteria restaurant and bar known for its “cook your own steaks” tradition and its everyday regulars who date back years, is on the market for just short of $10 million.
As our Josh Molina reported, The Palms is owned by brothers Bill and Tod Bennett, and it’s been in their family for generations. The building at 701 Linden Ave., on the northwest corner of Seventh Street, includes a second floor of rental apartments.
The first-floor restaurant is Carpinteria’s oldest and, in a community that celebrates tradition like Carp does, that is a source of pride.
“It’s time for a new generation to continue it on and take it to the next level,” Bill Bennett says in a marketing video from Kogevinas Luxury Properties, the listing agent with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices.
The business comes with an on-sale liquor license, live music permit and dance license. Dinner is served from 5 to 10 p.m. daily, with the lounge and bar open until 2 a.m. There’s live music and dancing Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.
4. Santa Barbara Public Health Officer Talks About Side Effects to Expect from COVID-19 Booster Shot
With the Food & Drug Administration granting emergency use authorization for booster shots of the three COVID-19 vaccines, our Jade Martinez-Pogue talked to Dr. Henning Ansorg, Santa Barbara County’s public health officer, about the side effects that recipients might expect.
Ansorg explained that common side effects from the Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer Bio-NTech boosters are similar to what people may have experienced when they got their initial vaccine series months ago.
But the different boosters are not all the same so the severity of any side effects can vary slightly.
I don’t have the energy or interest to recount all the possible variations that you may or may not encounter. Besides, I’m neither a doctor nor an epidemiologist — as a handful of my most zealous Best of Bill column skimmers likes to point out, not that I’ve ever claimed otherwise.
Also, Jade and Ansorg did it for me.
As with any vaccine, Ansorg noted, the immunity introduced by the coronavirus vaccine erodes over time so a booster shot helps minimize the additional risk of infection.
“It’s really important that people take advantage of the boosters,” he said. “Our immune system gets weaker as we age … It’s really wise to help the immune system stay strong against this virus.”
Hmmmm, isn’t that why long-mundane flu shots are administered every autumn like the one I got the other day?
Oh, and to save my zealots some time, on both sides, I believe in the science of vaccination but I also believe it’s a personal choice — just like with a flu shot. If you’re growing closer to the most at-risk age group like I am, the choice becomes more pronounced but it’s still yours alone to make.
5. Suspect, Victim Taken to Hospital After Shooting at Goleta Hotel
Thanksgiving morning was more eventful than most at a quiet Goleta hotel after a shooting sent two people to the hospital on Nov. 25.
As our Tom Bolton was first to report, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Raquel Zick said emergency personnel were called to the Best Western Plus South Coast Inn at 5620 Calle Real after the 11 a.m. incident.
Zick said two people — an adult female “victim” and an adult male “suspect” — were transported by American Medical Response ambulances to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital with serious injuries.
Their identities were not disclosed, nor were their medical conditions released.
In an update first thing Nov. 26, Tom reported that the two individuals had died of their wounds and that Zick said investigators believe the shootings were a murder-suicide.
“This is an apparent murder-suicide, and detectives do not believe there are any additional outstanding suspects,” she said.
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Last Year on Noozhawk
What was our most-read story this time last year? As COVID-19 Cases Rise Among College Students, Some in Isla Vista Are Voicing Frustration.
• • •
Americans Held Hostage: Day 88
What’s happening with U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents we left behind in Afghanistan 88 days ago is actually not semantics.
Merriam-Webster definition of hostage
hos·tage | \ ˈhä-stij \
1a: a person held by one party in a conflict as a pledge pending the fulfillment of an agreement
b: a person taken by force to secure the taker’s demands
2: one that is involuntarily controlled by an outside influence
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Bill Macfadyen’s Story of the Week
I have no idea how I got to this click, but the before-and-after posts have had me LOL-ing for days: Photoshop King Takes Photo-Editing Requests Way Too Literally.
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Best of Bill’s Instagram
@sadiethealaskanmalaute.com was a mal-enigma in my Instagram feed this past week.
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Watch It
Tom Green is a comedian and filmmaker by profession, but he and his dog, Charley, embarked on an interesting van-life odyssey around the country last year. A friend and I were talking about the geoglyphs along the Colorado River north of Blythe, and I remembered that Green had posted about the ancient and mysterious Intaglios during his trip. Enjoy.
(Tom Green video)
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— Bill Macfadyen is Noozhawk’s founder and publisher. Contact him at wmacfadyen@noozhawk.com, follow him on Instagram: @bill.macfadyen, or click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.