In its meeting on Tuesday, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors will receive the annual TRUTH Act report regarding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement access to individuals.
The purpose of the report is to “provide information to the public about ICE’s access to individuals and to receive and consider public comment,” according to the staff report.
From 2018 to 2019, the number of ICE requests increased; however, the number of ICE pickups decreased over 57%, the presentation states.
The board will also provide an update on the status of COVID-19 in the county.
Discussion will likely center around the notification from Public Health that the Southern California region fell below 15% ICU capacity, which triggered the regional stay-at-home order for Santa Barbara County.
The order went into effect at midnight on Sunday and will remain in place for at least three weeks, with re-evaluation the week of Dec. 28.
In other business, the board will receive an update from the county’s legislative advocates and be recommended to adopt the County of Santa Barbara 2021 Legislative Platform.
The legislative principles for 2021 are the same as 2020’s, and include: Job Growth and Economic Vitality, Efficient Service Delivery and Operations, Fiscal Stability, Inter-Agency Collaboration, Local Control, Health and Human Services, Workforce Development, Community Sustainability and Environmental Protection.
“The 2021 Legislative Platform includes requests for project and program funding as well as legislation and advocacy for public service improvements that may increase revenue or improve service levels,” the board letter states.
In addition, the board will be asked to consider the County and Montecito Planning Commissions’ recommendations to amend the County LUDC and Montecito LUDC for telecommunications facilities appurtenant to natural gas distribution facilities.
SoCalGas wants to install approximately 63 wireless signal transmitting and/or receiving natural gas telecommunication facilities in the non-coastal zone of the county, locating approximately eight facilities in the Montecito Community Plan area and the 55 facilities in the balance of the unincorporated county.
“The facilities would monitor and transmit natural gas use information from customer meters and underground pipelines,” the board letter reads. “In part, these facilities would improve public safety by detecting gas leaks in underground pipelines.”
The County and Montecito LUDCs currently require any natural gas company to obtain a Conditional Use Permit for the new facilities, so the board directed the Planning and Development Department to initiate amendments to the LUDCs to address this request.
The proposed ordinances include three main components: a statement of the purpose, intent and applicability; the required permitting process for either a Zoning Clearance or LUP; and objective development standards.
The meeting will be held virtually at 9 a.m. Tuesday. It will be televised on local cable channel 20 or livestreamed at http://www.countyofsb.org/ceo/csbtv/livestream.sbc or at the YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/CSBTV20.
email: gmccormick@newspress.com
