Regarding the April 4 article, “Housing Project for Sears Building Hits a Wall with Santa Barbara Planning Commission,” the La Cumbre Plaza housing debacle has bared local government’s ineptitude.
Two vast projects — more than 1,000 units — stumble forward without a unified plan, inviting traffic jams, school overload and vanishing public access. It’s Santa Barbara’s planning failures at its worst.
The city knew coordination was crucial, seeking $1.1 million for a specific plan. Then-Santa Barbara County Supervisor Das Williams, as chairman of the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments, rejected it in 2023 for “mysterious” reasons — perhaps too fixated on cannabis wins to notice.
Yet, despite the absence of a plan, city leaders let developers charge ahead, providing no framework. Now, planning commissioners grapple with scattered proposals in a void, hemmed by state deadlines and mandates.
This is negligence. Williams toppled the cornerstone; the city piled on rubble anyway. Leadership chases political points but fumbles where competent governance counts.
Peter Sadowski
Santa Barbara
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Joshua Molina’s article cited “Orange County Developers” … SAY NO MORE. This is not Orange County, and the rendering of this proposed development looks more like a penitentiary than beach-community living.
Moreover, considering the fact that the La Cumbre Plaza development, comprised of both the Sears and Macy’s properties, will arguably be there for the next 50-100 years, there’s absolutely no need to rush the process, and one could certainly make a resounding argument for better coordination between the parties and the City of Santa Barbara.
As a native Santa Barbaran, it sickens me to see the city’s soul evaporating, and its personality becoming more and more “L.A.” and “O.C.”
La Cumbre Plaza will set the tone for the Upper State and San Roque neighborhoods, if not the city itself, for the next generation. Please take the necessary time to do it right.
Rick Tico
Santa Barbara
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Is that rendering of the La Cumbre Plaza monstrosity a joke? Did Charlie Munger design it from beyond the grave?
Fred Price
Santa Barbara
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We would like to express our concern about the March 31 article, “Laguna Blanca School Can Move Forward with Plan to Increase Enrollment.”
Fact-checking should have been conducted prior to publication as the article contains multiple inaccuracies and draws incorrect conclusions about the situation.
There are two key parties involved in whether Laguna Blanca School can proceed with its plan to increase enrollment following Santa Barbara County’s approval of its conditional use permit: the Hope Ranch Park Homes Association and Laguna Blanca School.
Laguna Blanca cannot proceed with its plan to increase enrollment without the written consent of the homes association. In 1991, the association and LBS entered into a recorded agreement governing enrollment and other operational constraints, and it limits enrollment to 300 students.
As of April 9, the association has not granted consent for increased enrollment and that 1991 agreement remains in effect.
A group of homeowners filed an appeal of the county Planning Commission’s decision to approve the Laguna Blanca CUP.
The appeal was later withdrawn, not due to agreement with the decision, but because the appellants believed they had pursued the process as far as possible within the county framework. They are confident that the association would protect their interests in upcoming negotiations with the school.
Kim Kimbell
Hope Ranch Park Homes Association president pro tem
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Regarding the April 5 article, “Thousands Blanket Downtown Santa Barbara, Beach to Protest Donald Trump, Elon Musk,” a sign claiming “The only minority destroying this country are billionaires,” is pretty rich — no pun intended — coming from coastal California elites representing the party of oligarchs.
No, downsizing federal programs, decreasing the size of the federal workforce, removing illegal aliens and stopping wars are exactly what I voted for.
N.D. Morales
Santa Maria
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Confused as to exactly what these protesters were against. Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency webpage is totally transparent and is showing massive fraud when it comes to U.S. taxpayer money being wasted and stolen. It is there in detail.
Why would these protesters be against having their money be accounted for and protected from waste?
Some of these things DOGE has found are eye popping!
David Chalfy
Las Vegas
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American youth are increasingly underserved when it comes to both academic and vocational education, though there are exceptions.
While some are well-educated, many are not. This growing disparity has created a widening cultural and economic divide between the “haves” and the “have-nots.”
Fueled by envy, this divide could potentially lead to violence — if one cannot earn what they desire, they may resort to taking it by force.
The system is in dire need of a comprehensive overhaul to address these inequalities.
John Johnson
Santa Barbara
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Thank you to Wayne Mellinger for his April 10 commentary, “Ancient Chumash Wisdom Can Shape Santa Barbara’s Future.”
I am the son of the late James “Bud” Bottoms, and one of my teachers was Victor Lopez, who was known as “Sky Eagle.”
When my dad’s Dolphin Fountain was dedicated at the base of Stearns Wharf, he explained the symbol in bronze at the foot of the sculpture. So did Chumash descendant Madeline Hall.
The symbol is a circle with vertical and horizontal lines indicating the four directions, North, South, East and West. Within each quadrant are dolphins, or A’lul’quoy (Alolkoy), the Chumash word for them.
The A’lul’quoy symbol means “To go around, to protect, to defend and make peace.” That is what the Alolkoy do.
The Santa Barbara Flyfishers recently held a fundraiser at the Lobero Theatre for the endangered steelhead trout. They chose to use the sacred Alolkoy image in their advertising. It has nothing to do with the steelhead.
The symbol, which is an ancient painting, is very old and very sacred to the Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation.
Timothy James Bottoms
Santa Barbara
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