Thank you to the City of Santa Barbara.
The American flag flown over the Santa Barbara County Courthouse Sunken Garden for the Fourth of July week was a sight to behold.
It made me proud to be an American and live in Santa Barbara. It was truly beautiful.
I wrote a letter to the editor a few months back criticizing Santa Barbara’s leadership, but they got this one right.
Well done. I’m already looking forward to seeing it next year.
Mark Philibosian
Santa Barbara Sister Cities vice president
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Regarding the July 19 article, “Santa Barbara Panel Calls for Preservation of Italian Stone Pine Trees on East Anapamu Street,” it is my understanding that the trees were brought here by Dr. Francesco Franceschi long ago.
I have also heard that the iconic trees in Italy are suffering due to a beetle problem. It would be a shame to lose them.
Wouldn’t it be so much more fun and interesting to reach out to the city of Florence and/or the Fenzi family to create an alliance?
Make the trees and Franceschi Park part of our tourism efforts. Invite botanists from around the world to come and marvel at our local wonders. Coordinate with the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden on the best way forward to protect and preserve the trees.
Not destroying them would be lovely. Thank you.
Diane Cavanaugh
Santa Barbara
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The community’s outrage over poor management and abrupt removals of the Italian Stone Pine Trees on East Anapamu Street stretches far beyond last June when four more were axed.
There was similar public concern over a decade ago when unhealthy trees were removed without any plan for replacement.
The Parks & Recreation Department’s explanation in 2013 included lack of staff funding to water the trees sufficiently. In response, the Pearl Chase Society donated $15,000 for the purchase of requested “irricades,” which the department said would address the issue.
Then, too, the Historic Landmarks Commission was extremely concerned about the landmark condition.
The latest public alarm began more than a year ago, before the most recent actions. A small citizen group inventoried each tree in July 2023 with photographs, physical descriptions, precise locations and comparison to the original landmark documentation.
An almost 80-page document was created to include the trees’ history, possible contributors to their decline, block-by-block comparisons of tree health, examples of successful Italian stone pines here and in other California cities, discussion of city living landmark oversight responsibility, and more than 30 realistic recommendations for improvement.
The report was circulated to the Landmarks Commission and others in August and September. It was submitted to city staff in person in October. Since then, it has languished, somewhat unseen, while staffers considered it, promised scientific testing of the trees, and awaited official interpretations of the results. All while they continued to identify more trees to be removed ministerially.
The Landmarks Commission repeatedly requested for the plight of the trees to be made an agenda item for their public discussion, but they were rebuffed by staff members with a variety of reasons.
This is more than a local neighborhood issue. The six-block tree canopy is often an indelible memory for visitors to Santa Barbara and concert attendees at the Santa Barbara Bowl.
It is the largest example of a living landmark in a city noted for its historic landmarks and preservation efforts. And it puts a spotlight on some unanticipated loopholes and unanswered questions in our Municipal Code.
Who oversees the maintenance of historic landmarks in Santa Barbara? Is it the Landmarks Commission, the property owner, the City Council or a city department? Can a city department reverse a City Council decision?
If an official landmark resolution specifies historic features (in this case, Pinus pinea, Italian stone pines), must the owner (the city) maintain those features? In a historic structure analogy, may a landmark building’s owner replace its original wood frame windows with vinyl or aluminum?
Opinions may vary on the answers to these questions and the proper course forward. I believe the incremental decline of the trees is the result of some poor management decisions, landscape/hardscape tradeoffs, and an element of benign neglect.
Almost all observers will agree: the current condition of the trees is unsuitable for a designated landmark. At the very least, the topic deserves a full public discussion.
Richard Closson
Santa Barbara
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Regarding the July 19 article, “Goleta Council Selects Restriping Plan for Cathedral Oaks Road,” so the council’s decision is for fancy reverse parking outside the bike lane that will gain 10 parking spots?
What didn’t get considered was people slamming on their brakes to back into a spot and getting rear-ended by the commuter just driving home.
Why is it that fancy ideas always blind decision makers to obvious dangers? It’s because they want to be seen as visionaries.
Well council, vision this, when someone gets rear-ended when parking in one of your 10 new reverse parking spots, you and the City of Goleta are going to be liable for the new danger you created.
If you really want those 10 spots, go with the standard angle parking. Then the liability is on the person backing out. Personally, I would go with parallel parking and those 10 extra spots, people will have to walk from the nearby neighborhoods.
Thank you, Rebecca Caraway, for your informative article. I couldn’t make the meeting and she provided me with all the info I needed for my letter.
Perhaps she can write a follow-up article after the city has its first lawsuit because of this visionary decision.
Bart Bader
Goleta
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Regarding the July 23 article, “Goleta Council Approves Parking Time Limits for Carson Street in Old Town,” the revamped and newly created community garden at Armitos Park is most welcome. Unfortunately, there is limited parking on Armitos Street, in part, due to many vehicles never or infrequently being moved.
As with Carson Street parking, perhaps the Goleta City Council would consider parking limits on Armitos street?
Michael Diamant
Goleta
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Barbara Greenleaf’s July 12 letter to the editor suggesting that developers buy a piece of land to leave as open space in trade for the right to build residential units is absurd. Why is it the developer’s responsibility?
The State of California has mandated excess housing by decimating our zoning laws. The state should be responsible for providing open spaces.
Developers and builders are business people. They are not nonprofits. The excessive rules and regulations in the state, Santa Barbara County, and cities of Santa Barbara and Goleta already squeeze profits.
In addition to current volatile economics, these business people are also risk-takers. When a project is complete, which takes years in our communities, the developer may face a recession. The high cost of building, scarce labor and high interest rates provide a risky business environment.
During my 40 years as a local Realtor, I have seen developers unable to finish a project for many reasons, often related to politics, economics or the environment.
Park Highlands, off San Antonio Creek Road, lay incomplete for many years because of water politics. Streets were in, utilities were laid and lots were ready to be built. That builder went bankrupt, as did several other projects.
Frogs, spiders and bush bunnies have held up many projects in our area.
No one works for free. I’m sure Greenleaf’s husband didn’t when he was managing a large insurance company. And I’ll bet he didn’t give any large asset away for free to make his clients happy.
We should be glad in this restrictive environment that there are still builders and developers willing to provide housing. You get who you vote for! Remember, they make the rules.
Carla Reeves
Santa Barbara
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I would like to comment on the July 19 letters to the editor from Mike Schley and Brenda Dentinger about the bench placed along the Rattlesnake Canyon Trail by an Eagle Scout and subsequently removed illegally.
For full disclosure, I am a friend and hiking partner of Noozhawk columnist Dan McCaslin. I believe the Eagle Scout project was well intentioned and the young man should be applauded for his hard work and desire to improve the hiking experience on Rattlesnake Canyon.
However, I believe the Santa Barbara Parks & Recreation Department was misguided in approving this project.
Rattlesnake Canyon is a true treasure of our front country wilderness, and should be preserved in its pristine, natural state. I have spoken to many folks from out of town who visit Rattlesnake Trail, and they marvel at our great fortune to have such a wilderness wonderland embedded within our urban landscape.
I worry that any placement of structures with the intent of “improving” Rattlesnake Canyon will inexorably result in a string of further “improvements.”
I am a big fan of the Parks & Recreation Department and what they do to maintain our parks and trails, but please leave Rattlesnake Canyon a pristine wilderness destination!
Peter Glynn
Goleta
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The June 9 article, “Santa Barbara’s Tunnel Trail Closing for Months for More SCE Restoration Work,” has the wrong focus:
“Kevin Snow of the Montecito Trails Foundation said the closure will have an ‘enormous impact on thousands of people who use that trail every day.’”
The “enormous impact” is what happened to the creek and surrounding habitat. Edison illegally dumped nearly a million gallons of rock and debris into the creek, destroying acres of native habitat.
Edison settled for a $3.5 million fine based on civil and criminal charges filed by the Santa Barbara County district attorney.
The hundreds of oak trees and countless other native plants for the project is the work of Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. Garden staff and volunteers have been growing the trees and native plants from seeds, cuttings, transplanting them into ever larger containers to make them ready for the restoration process.
The material is sourced by accessing native plants from our own backyard. The garden is literally right down the street. Or more precisely, Mission Canyon.
The Botanic Garden is more than a pretty showcase of native plants. It is about education and the science of biodiversity and conservation. The garden is growing, storing and cataloging hundreds of thousands of specimens in the Living Collection and 2 million seeds in the Conservation Seed Bank.
The garden provides plants for many other restoration projects, including the Channel Islands, Elings Park and oil company-damaged sites as well as local landscapers and nurseries. There’s even an on-site nursery.
Larry Bickford
Santa Barbara
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Thank you for providing space for Frank Sanitate’s July 16 commentary, “Education Reform Should Address ‘Things That Bug Me’,” which then led me to watch the interview with Noam Chomsky about the meaning and purpose of education.
As a retired educator and a parent and grandparent, I found Chomsky’s analysis of the best ways to educate a child or adult to be well worth pondering.
Thank you for sending me in the direction of a subject that interests me greatly, which is exactly what this scientist was suggesting.
Susan Shields
Santa Barbara
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Regarding Gretchen Smith’s July 12 letter to the editor and her concern that people who move from Santa Barbara County are not being purged from the voter registration rolls, it sounds like she believes that people are voting illegally posing as those former residents and committing voter fraud.
I strongly recommend that people who suspect that this and other illegal schemes are commonplace contact the county Elections Office. Ask for an appointment to speak with a supervisor about your concern. Better yet, offer to work at a polling place on Election Day (you’ll be paid).
If you actually learn about how ballots are distributed, tracked and verified, collected, counted etc., you’d understand the careful system in place. It is rare to find any instances in this country of actual voter fraud.
Voter suppression and gerrymandering are more common and usually are advantageous to the Republican side The many claims of fraud and deception after the 2020 presidential election were investigated and found to be without merit.
If the loser of the 2024 election claims again that it was “rigged,” we’ll have more unnecessary and destructive chaos, possibly more violent than the last time.
Chris Gallery
Santa Barbara
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