Josh Molina’s March 18 article, “New Sketches Outline Latest Vision for Santa Barbara’s State Street,” states that the new architectural sketches for the 400, 800 and 1100 blocks of State Street drew praise from some members but concern from others.
This article, and the comments about the AIA sketches, highlights the fact that the State Street planning effort is a prime candidate for Form-Based Coding.
A Form-Based Code is a land development regulation that is focused on predictable built results and a high-quality public realm by using physical form (rather than separation of uses) as the organizing principle for the code.
A Form-Based Code focuses on how development relates to the context of the surrounding community, especially the relationships between buildings and the street, pedestrians and vehicles, and public and private spaces.
The code addresses these concerns by regulating site design, circulation and overall building form rather than simply defining allowable uses.
Some advantages of Form-Based Code include making it easier to predict results, streamlining permitting and helping to ensure that we get the functionality that the community wants.
A local area example of the use of Form-Based Coding can be seen in Old Town Ventura’s Main Street downtown area.
The use of Form-Based Building Codes in specific parts of the City of Santa Barbara was suggested by several planning commissioners more than a decade ago. But the Community Development Department adamantly refused to even consider discussing it.
Perhaps it is time to bring up that concept again.
Addison Thompson
Santa Barbara
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Boy, the State Street Advisory Committee has certainly gone down the rabbit hole with these sketchy sketches. Wonder what side of the mushroom they were chewing on.
There was some discussion about it being a decades-long project? To do nothing is to do something? Show me the money!
Cass Ensberg had an excellent plan on what could be done now and was dismissed. Musta made too much sense.
Sense of arrival? Place making? Gobbledygook. Historic Landmarks Commission not included? Transportation and circulation not included?
Sheesh! What a night dream.
R. Kent Richards
Santa Barbara
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I extend my deepest gratitude to voters of Santa Barbara County’s Third District for electing me to serve a third term as your supervisor.
And I thank people throughout the county for your support — attending events, contributing financially, posting signs, writing letters, engaging with friends and neighbors on something as hot-buttoned as “politics,” and for knocking on doors on my behalf.
I so appreciate those who engaged in heartfelt conversations on your doorsteps, sharing your thoughts for improving our community.
I humbly acknowledge the trust you have placed in me to represent your voices, hopes and concerns. Your willingness — Democrats, Republicans and others — to entrust me with your votes is a responsibility I do not take lightly.
Throughout my tenure, I have strived to advocate tirelessly for community values and priorities.
Your continued support reinforces my commitment to serving you with dedication and integrity. Your involvement in the democratic process is a testament to the strength of our community and the power of working together to achieve shared goals.
I am deeply grateful for the privilege of serving as your representative. Thank you once again for placing your confidence in me.
I am truly honored to serve as your county supervisor.
Joan Hartmann
Santa Barbara County Third District supervisor
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What a beautiful recollection by Joyce Dudley in her March 15 essay, “His Final Gift Was the Greatest of All.” Thank you for sharing such a raw, vulnerable and compassionate farewell.
Lori Call
Santa Barbara
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Regarding Noozhawk publisher Bill Macfadyen’s March 15 column, “Readers Relate to Judy Foreman’s Driver’s License Test Case Scenario,” after driving 65-plus years I took the driver’s written test last year, and failed.
Thinking I already knew what’s required, I hadn’t studied, so I got the booklet, took it home and read it. Took the test again and passed.
What California SHOULD be testing is not our elderly knowledge (we seniors have been driving all our lives) but our actual driving skills!
I even asked the woman behind the counter WHY they don’t. She agreed with me! Another great California mystery.
Nan Morrow
Santa Barbara
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Every week I look forward to reading Noozhawk publisher Bill Macfadyen’s “Best of Bill” columns, and every week I find myself chuckling at his headlines — among other things.
The “Readers Relate to Judy Foreman’s Driver’s License Test Case Scenario” was one of the best. Whoever wrote that deserves a raise!
Brenda Gray
Santa Barbara
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Like so many readers, I could relate to Judy Foreman’s March 10 column, “Drivers License Renewal Tests Taker’s Resolve — But That Passes.” Having turned 70 myself a while back, I had to take “the test.”
I was surprised that neither she nor any of those who responded had discovered what I did quite by accident. I hope my experience helps others in the same situation.
As several people did note, there is an online tutorial. It consists of several short visual courses on various aspects of driving, followed by a short quiz on the material you just watched. You can pause between segments and return to it anytime.
I took each mini-quiz and aced them all. I felt ready to go in and take the real thing. The lady behind the counter began going over my paperwork and casually said “I see you took the test online …”
That multipart quiz in the online tutorial IS the test!
On a related note: I was renewing a Real ID license, and the instructions said to bring a copy of my birth certificate and a recent utility bill. I dug out the birth certificate and printed up a utility bill, only to find that those are unnecessary if the license you are renewing is already a Real ID.
All in all, it was a short and surprisingly smooth experience — but the online instructions do leave a lot to be desired.
Gerry DeWitt
Santa Barbara
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I certainly could identify with Judy Foreman concerning the renewal of my California driver’s license.
I am 82 years young and I recently took my written test to renew my license. The good news, I passed.
Here are my suggestions: Study for the test. Read the handbook. I also have a paperback book, How To Pass The California Driver’s License Written Test, by Richard Clem.
And, finally, make an appointment as soon as you can. The DMV is often booked up for several months.
Diana Thorn
Carpinteria
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I just went to the DMV and had a similar time there. They wanted a certified copy of my birth certificate and marriage license. I gave them a copy and was told they needed an original. They then copied the original for the Real ID.
Took the test and failed. Waited three minutes, retook it and passed. The DMV should have told Judy Foreman she could retake it right away.
I tried to do the test online, and it gave me the practice one then said I need to go in for the test. Test there was more difficult than the practice test.
Get there early. The DMV made me return for the test as it was 4:30 p.m. and they stopped the test then. Still a difficult process for what should be easy.
Bonnie Jo Danely
Montecito
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Regarding the March 13 article, “Latest Vote Tally Cements Roy Lee’s Victory Over Das Williams in First District Supervisor Race,” the big news is a hard-left, progressive Santa Barbara County supervisor has been replaced by a working-class, business guy.
And, that Republicans joined in to make it happen, as many of us showed up at Lee’s rallies and events, and supported him at the polls.
The takeaway is that Republicans can have an effect on local politics, if they lean toward the center right of California voters, to join in with center-left voters. This strategic vote pattern is what carried Lee to victory.
Also incumbent Das Williams did not help himself, pandering to pot farmers and stinking up half the county with cannabis grows next to schools and neighborhoods.
Coalition politics is all that’s available to minority blocs such as local Republicans. They must take what they can, by creating coalitions to sway government to the center and center-left voters will sometimes agree to help.
The business-oriented Lee is way better for conservative-minded voters than far-left progressive Williams. Now Lee, with a clear mandate to provide transparency and good business principles to our bloated county budget, has a chance to bring that perspective to our local county decisions.
Finally, the left may have seen what damage they created by placing hard-left ideologues into power as supervisors over multibillion dollar budgets.
Republicans should take heart, and note that conservative business values are respected in liberal circles. We may have some use after all.
Thomas Cole
Montecito
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Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, in office since 2017, is a progressive. As my politics are more toward the right of that, Carbajal and I disagree on many issues, but he’s been duly elected by a majority of voters in the 24th Congressional District four times so far.
While I don’t always agree with him, I’ve respected his attempts to represent the people of our district.
Uh, well … until now. No surprise: Carbajal and I differ on immigration.
I support legal immigration. People who have migrated legally to the United States have contributed much to make our country a better place.
On the other hand, while I’m uncomfortable with the current, unrestricted migration, I’m absolutely opposed to allowing illegal aliens with criminal records into the country. I support immediate deportation of illegal immigrants who have been convicted of violent crime, be it in their home country our ours.
Carbajal recently voted against the “Laken Riley Act,” named for the Georgia nursing student who was brutally murdered last month. That bill would have forced the federal government to try undocumented persons suspected of violent crime and, if found guilty, immediately deport them.
After I became aware of Carbajal’s misguided vote, I did some research and learned he has a history of voting against legislation that would deport illegal immigrants who’ve engaged in criminal behavior.
Carbajal also voted against “Kate’s Law,” which was intended to bar illegal immigrants from re-entering the United States after deportations. The bill’s name honored Kate Steinle, who was killed by an illegal immigrant who admitted to the killing but claimed it was accidental and was found not guilty.
Prior to killing Steinle, the defendant had already been deported five times and was a convicted felon — not once but seven times. That he was still in the country is a travesty.
So now, it’s hard for me to respect Carbajal. His unwillingness to vote in favor of mandatory prosecution of illegal immigrants alleged to have committed murder or other significant criminal acts and deport them if they are convicted is detestable.
At this point, I’m completely disgusted with him. I hope voters kick him out of Congress on Nov. 5.
Hib Halverson
Goleta
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I visited the Santa Barbara Museum of Art last week to see the new photographic exhibition and had the surreal experience of walking through empty white-walled rooms where the show “Three American Artists” was meant to be hung.
The emptiness brought me both sadness and a disquieting reminder of the power and danger of censorship. We were surely all entitled to see the works of renowned American artists that had been prepared for this show.
If you go to the museum, I suggest you regard the empty halls as an exhibition in itself. Wall plaques should explain clearly and truthfully why those paintings were never hung.
Susan Shields
Santa Barbara
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Regarding Robert Sulnick’s March 21 commentary, “Earth Day 2024 Should Be About Stopping Climate Change,” I agree that Earth Day organizers have missed a crucial opportunity to focus action this year on the climate emergency facing all of us.
Last week, the United Nations officially confirmed what many other organizations had already projected: 2023 was the hottest year in human history by a “clear margin.”
“Sirens are blaring across all major indicators … Some records aren’t just chart-topping, they’re chart-busting. And changes are speeding up,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said.
Plastic pollution is serious and must be addressed. But, as Sulnick points out, plastics come from fossil fuels, and it’s these planet-destroying fuels that we must begin phasing out now before climate impacts become catastrophic and irreversible.
How can we do that? We can support Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, who has introduced in Congress climate legislation that would make coal, oil and gas companies pay for their carbon pollution, use the revenue to support American households, and incentivize all nations, including China, to adopt similar policies.
If enacted, this legislation would spur the transition from fossil fuels to a clean energy future while protecting vulnerable American households, adding thousands of clean energy jobs and growing the economy.
Robert Taylor
Montecito
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Congratulations, California, you now will put an additional $6 billion-plus to eliminate a problem that has cost you more than $22 billion during Gov. Gavin Newsom’s residency in Sacramento!
You have bought motels, worked on outreach drug intervention over and over again, and here you are doing the same costly dance once again. My state is not far behind. I’m hoping we will look into the chief cause, mental health!
Since the 1980s we defunded mental health facilities and watched as our homelessness, crime and despondency inched up and to the crisis level it is today.
We added toxic catalyst to the scenario by defunding police, sending unarmed medics and first responders into this earthly hell in our cities and then, when all this fails, we do it again.
Time to see why we do it, where the tremendous amounts of money actually go, and why we ignore the obvious fact that this is a complex issue that is steeped in issues deriving from a mindset that has lost core values. Values like family, hard work, community improvement, self betterment and faith. Faith at any level, faith in a religion, in mankind and in hope of a better tomorrow.
Money being thrown to persons operating these programs gets lost in the age-old profit motive, the success is low and the cost is high. Try using the money taxed to millionaires and this bond to create a new state-run mental health system.
And start fast, mental health is not a quick fix and that is what you want. It’s not attainable until you ,the voters, voice your support for the long and worthy battle to realign our values, both societal and individual, to a healthier mental state.
The authors of Proposition 1 know they will fail in the end, but they will distribute your money and that’s what counts.
Don’t let them! Recall this measure, rephrase its purpose to attack the problem, and then pass a working bill that will actually focus on the problems, not the symptoms.
Brian Massey
Bow, Washington
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