There were 101,220 people who read Noozhawk this past week. The context and structure of your Top Five stories compel me to depart from what would otherwise be the most natural reading of the pertinent words and interpret them however I want. But that’s my opinion.
1. Despite Pleas from Public, Santa Barbara Council Backs Ban on Short-Term Vacation Rentals
Short-term vacation rentals have long been a simmering issue on the South Coast, but the topic seems to be reaching a breaking point. Or maybe not.
Earlier this year, Goleta adopted a new ordinance requiring registration and licensing. On June 23, the Santa Barbara City Council weighed in, unanimously voting to uphold a ban on short-term vacation rentals in residential areas.
Our Gina Potthoff may need a short-term vacation of her own after enduring the four-hour public comment period. More than 90 speakers lined up to give their views, for and against the Santa Barbara ordinance — an ordinance, it should be noted, that’s rarely enforced anyway.
There currently are 349 rentals registered with the city, although officials freely admit that’s probably only about a third of the true number.
The municipal ordinance requires anyone renting out rooms or homes for fewer than 30 consecutive days to register for a business license and to pay transient-occupancy taxes. But the practice itself is not permitted in the city’s residential zones, since the act of renting is considered a business transaction.
One aspect of the debate is Santa Barbara’s ridiculously tight long-term rental market, which has a staggering 99.5 percent occupancy rate. Opponents of the short-term rentals say they exacerbate that lack of inventory.
“We have people today who need to live here but can’t,” Councilman Gregg Hart said.
But proponents — who actually hail from all kinds of demographics — say the rentals enable them to live here themselves.
“The reality is, Santa Barbara is a very expensive place to come to,” Gina quoted one short-term rental owner as saying of his vacationing clients.
“But when they come here, they spend money.”
2. Driver Dies After Car Crash on Hollister Avenue in Western Goleta
A 26-year-old Goleta man died from injuries he suffered in a high-speed crash on Hollister Avenue just before midnight July 20.
According to authorities, Mike Moore was traveling westbound at a high rate of speed when he struck the median and lost control of his Lexus sedan in the 7900 block of Hollister, near Las Armas Road and Sandpiper Golf Club.
“After crossing the eastbound lanes, the right side of the vehicle struck a tree,” said Kelly Hoover, spokeswoman for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.
She said Moore was rushed to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, but was declared dead on arrival.
Moore wasn’t alone in the car. His beloved dog, Stella, escaped injury and was placed in the care of county Animal Services until she could be released to Moore’s family the next morning.
The cause of the crash is under investigation, and Hoover said it was not yet known if alcohol and/or drugs were factors.
Earlier that night, Moore reportedly had been at a nearby beach party, where his dog may have been skunked.
3. 2 Santa Maria Teens Killed in Highway 101 Crash Near Ventura
Two 15-year-old Pioneer Valley High School students were killed early June 22 when their car ran into the back of a big rig parked on the shoulder of Highway 101 near Ventura.
Two other people in the car suffered major injuries in the 1:25 a.m. wreck.
According to California Highway Patrol Officer Dave Webb, a Santa Maria boy was driving the 2013 Honda Accord north in the freeway’s left lane when, for unknown reasons, the car veered across the right lane and struck the truck.
The driver, identified as Justin Walker, and his front-seat passenger, identified as Milinda Parra, died at the scene.
Two male passengers in the back seat — ages 22 and 17 — suffered major injuries, and Webb said they were taken to Ventura County Medical Center.
The big-rig driver was not hurt in the collision.
“We don’t believe alcohol was involved,” Webb said.
The group apparently was returning from a Southern California amusement park, and speculation is that Walker may have fallen asleep at the wheel. The CHP is investigating the cause of the crash.
Friends of the Parra and Walker families have started GoFundMe sites to help their parents with funeral expenses. Click here to make an online donation for Parra, or click here to make an online donation for Walker.
4. Senior Citizen Hit by Car, Dragged in Parking Lot Mishap Outside Santa Barbara Restaurant
I don’t know what it is about this particular corner of the Ralphs parking lot in the 2800 block of De la Vina Street, but it sure seems to be the scene of some unusual automotive mishaps.
The latest occurred around 5:45 p.m. June 21 when a man accidentally hit his wife with their Infinity SUV as they were leaving a restaurant.
“She was not all the way in the vehicle, and he began to back up,” said Lee Waldron, fire operations division chief with the Santa Barbara Fire Department.
He said the two senior citizens were both taken to nearby Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, the wife with facial and head injuries and burns from the hot takeout soup she was carrying and the husband with shock symptoms.
“Fortunately she was not run over and not pinned under the vehicle,” Waldron said.
The couple’s names were not released.
5. Santa Barbara Appears Poised to Bulldoze Historic Franceschi House on Riviera
From its perch atop the Riviera, the historic Franceschi House is one of Santa Barbara’s most prominent dwellings.
Except no one has lived there in years. And the place is a paint-peeling, decrepit wreck.
But I digress.
As our Josh Molina first reported, city officials had recommended that the once-stately manor be torn down. The Craftsman-style home was built by renowned botanist Francesco Francecshi in 1907, and is conveniently located next to what is now Franceschi Park in the 1500 block of Mission Ridge Road.
Municipal staff told the City Council that a public-private partnership that had tried to save the house had given it the old college try, but the 15-year undertaking had failed. Adequate funding for a true restoration had never really materialized, nor had any kind of plan for sustainability.
Citing the ongoing financial burden on the city, Parks & Recreation director Nancy Rapp argued that it was time to just demolish it. Many neighbors heartily agreed.
That didn’t go over so well with the Pearl Chase Society, which rapped Rapp’s route.
“We will never agree with demolition,” said Barbara Lowenthal, board president of the nonprofit Pearl Chase Society, which happens to be the city’s partner on the restoration project.
“It is a slice of the soul of this community. And how can we not save this?”
That’s probably intended to be a rhetorical question. A better one is: Why haven’t you?
Despite no evidence of a viable solution in its future, the spirit of Pearl Chase — if not her ghost — carried the day with the City Council.
With Councilman Frank Hotchkiss as the lone dissenter, Mayor Helene Schneider and Council members Dale Francisco, Gregg Hart, Cathy Murillo, Randy Rowse and Bendy White voted 6-1 to give Franceschi House — and themselves — another six months for fairies to magically transform the property and wand into existence the money tree that will provide for its upkeep.
I’ll recycle this in December.
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Bill Macfadyen’s Story of the Week, from my peripatetic tour of the World Wide Web: Creator of the Iconic Pink Plastic Flamingo Dies.
But Don Featherstone was not just known for the kitschy lawn ornament. For some 35 years, he and his wife, Nancy, were true birds of a feather, and wore matching outfits almost every day.
• • •
The filmmaker who cooked up this idea may be a family friend, but she deserves hundreds of thousands more views than she has. Did I mention she’s 11 years old?
(Olivia Amyx video)
• • •
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— Bill Macfadyen is Noozhawk’s founder and publisher. Contact him at wmacfadyen@noozhawk.com, follow him on Twitter: @noozhawk, or click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.
