DID YOU KNOW? Bonnie Donovan
We have previously written about Santa Barbara’s good fortune by having such wise and careful planning of the original street grid by Captain Salisbury Haley — a surveyor and sea captain.
Our classic State Street spilling down into Stearns Wharf created a look for which Santa Barbara is renowned the world over.
Now his plan hangs in the balance.
His design, based on a grid, surveyed from the Mission Gardens to the sea, and from hill to hill, was not tainted by a political agenda. However, all that beauty and ease of movement that had been established and in place for well over the decades is at stake. Why? Because the way the present city council acting within its naiveté and strong adherence to a certain political theory threatens what we have known.
Hired as consultants are Timmy Bolton, a former research assistant at UC Berkeley Institute of Transportation, along with the State Street Master Planner Tess Harris, a member of the American Planning Association. This APA aims to provide planning professionals, elected officials and community members with services, with the goal of a final plan by early 2024.
They speak about public engagement. We suspect they misrepresent how much public engagement is really included or encouraged or heeded. We question the experience level, motivation and commitment to the historical nature of Sana Barbara.
What can be predicted 30 to 50 years into the future? Could anyone have imagined the changes during the last three years?
We can say with certainty that the plan implemented by Capt. Haley since the 1850s has served this community very well. We wonder what he would think if he walked down State Street today, stepping over the homeless, navigating the hodgepodge of parklets and dodging e-bikes.
Resident Michael Bruce suggests that we talk about cities in Spain. How about focusing on cities in California? We know that the city of Carmel removed the parklets in their downtown corridor as soon as the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted.
Visit the Inland Empire: Redlands and Riverside in San Bernardino County. No parklets are in their thriving downtowns, and Redlands’ State Street has no vacant storefronts.
Redlands’ downtown street parking is diagonal, promoting easy access to commerce. Only two transients were spotted. A historical city with loads of civic pride. The residents fight to preserve citrus groves, and the town is full of Victorian homes, Spanish adobes, bungalows, Craftsmans, cottages and mansions from the 1800s. Santa Barbara could take a lesson.
Santa Barbara and San Francisco look the same: random parklets everywhere, rampant homelessness throughout the two cities and out-of-control electric bikes and in San Francisco, scooters too.
After a recent performance at the San Francisco Opera, adding to the peril of the three-to-four block trek to a parking garage in high heels at 11:30 at night, a couple of scooters whizzed past.
They hollered, “Watch out on the left …” What if the pedestrian moved out of the way into the left? “Sorr-ry.” We wonder where the city planners in San Francisco take their cue. Are they also products of the Berkeley Institute of Transportation?
Speaking of a path to destruction.
Now what we see on the veritable chopping block are the famous stretch of Canary Island palm trees that grace Modoc Road and resemble a painting. These are the irreplaceable Canary Island Palm heritage trees that were planted by Pearl Chase’s brother, Harold over a hundred years ago. They could tragically be chopped down and destroyed in one afternoon.
The magic trick is understanding Santa Barbara County’s shell game and just what is behind doors 1, 2 and 3. How many trees are being removed under each plan?
The Community Association for the Modoc Preserve, which is 4,400 strong in its petition drive to save the trees, have proposed Greenbelt Alignments, which is a ¾ mile extension of the Obern Trail, instead of the county’s Alignment A or B. And of course, what lies under the county’s shells is the number of trees to be axed.
Chris Sneddon, the Santa Barbara County deputy director of transportation, and Morgan Jones say engineering made significant changes to the earlier plans, which would remove X number of trees, according to the different options. Mr. Sneddon says the current numbers for tree removal are accurate. And because the stakeholders were heard, the numbers were scaled back. However, he stated some trees on the eastern end must be removed,which are the very Canary Island palms trees.
Warren Thomas of CAMP begs to differ and noted that the Canary Island palm trees can be saved, with an outcome that is a better and safer experience for equestrians and pedestrians.
According to the La Cumbre Water Co, “the project’s impacts to the Conservation easement area and the Modoc Preserve are not limited to physical ground disturbance or tree removal. The county should evaluate the environmental impacts caused by lighting, water management conflicts with existing uses, utility infrastructure and utility easements.”
A high-pressure natural gas pipeline crosses the eastern end of the project area. This gas line lies underneath the proposed 14-foot wide multi-use asphalt path. The Mitigated Negative Declaration is considered by many to be incomplete and inaccurate.
For example, native oak trees are omitted in the County’s revised MND Alignment A tables and maps.
Two divisive factions are at stake in the preservation of the historic trees along Modoc Road to be sacrificed for a multi-use path.
Recreational bicyclists are in league with Santa Barbara County Transportation vs. the Land Trust of Santa Barbara County, the La Cumbre Mutual Water Co. and townsfolk driving to school, to work, to soccer practice, the grocery store, and many more residents who drive or walk in the area.
The bottom line: Does the county hear people as they listen to the public engagement and outreach? (As all government entities vow they do.) And do they pay heed to what the townspeople/residents want?
It’s about more than perception this time, but reputations and public trust, as well as the many beautiful, iconic trees are also at stake. The Board of Supervisors will be voting on this matter on Nov. 1.
Did you know the green bike stripes in the middle of State Street are being removed? It turns out the issue of the biker’s right of way trumped over what had been sold as the “pedestrian promenade.” Go figure. What was the cost to paint the green sections, anyway? And now what will it cost for their removal? We would like to know. We recall $250,000 was spent on bollards and plastic planters, placed in the middle of the promenade. Oh, and now more free parking is being taken away. The city is adding a handicapped spot on the 00 block’s crossing of State Street along the promenade. After all, with the rush to promenade State Street, equity no longer existed for the elderly and the handicapped to be dropped off in front of their destination. Safety first!
By the way, the Mesa Café parklet, located on private property, had to be removed because the COVID-19 pandemic is over. Will State Street follow suit?
