Thanks Bonnie, I was going to write a letter to the editor at Noozhawk but you say it way better than I could have. I would only add one thing. A few weeks ago I watched a meeting of the ABR about this awful project, I was watching on the city of SB You Tube channel.
At the same time the movie, "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" was playing on TCM on my tv. I looked from one screen to the other and thought, which is more crazy?
Well, I did. You can read it on Noozhawk although I have to type "Letters" into the search box to read the letters.
Unfortunately they edited out the paragraph where I said, "I can wrap this up for you because over on Santa Barbara Current, Bonnie Donovan posted a great article about 418 N. Milpas. She hits all the points that I would have brought up and she does it in a way much better than I."
Then I went on to say, "I don't agree with a lot of the sentiments of the SBC viewers on national politics but on local issues, and in this case very local issues we are all posting similar comments. Even though we have different ideas about national politics, maybe everyone in SB can come together to stop these ridiculous, gigantic projects."
As I said, this was all edited out. I don't blame Bill Mac, it's his site.
Btw, I bought a rack of lamb on an Easter special from Shalhoob's Butcher Shop. It was so delicious and such a great price! I made a Parsley-Mint-Feta Pesto to go with it and Duck Fat Potatoes. My husband loved it.
You are the best, Bonnie. I thought I was going to wake up to another debate about whether eating chocolate bunnies on Easter is ok for Christians, and thankfully we're onto another crucifixion that is unfortunately happening right now, which is that of our city. There won't be a resurrection of this city. We can't wait for its death, we have to stop the persecution and murder of it now.
One thing we're up against is that these criminals, lead by Scott Wiener, don't fret about the fire dangers they're setting up here - fires like the ones that destroyed Altadena and Pacific Palisades. No, they welcome the destruction. Then they can build their 15 minute cities and make billions from their real estate development ties.
Santa Barbara is a Charter City. Stop electing weak, passive, politically ambitious Council Reps dependent on Dem Party for a pay check. These financially dependent reps refuse to push back on Sacramento.
"418 N. Milpas Receives Final Design Approval" Should anyone be surprised? The property owner came to CAB for support a number of years ago to stop destruction of Milpas. We said great what are you going to do to help us? The door shut and never opened again. This was just after we did a survey of businesses and residents within 2 blocks of Milpas proving what SantaMaria wants is not what the residents want. (2 fluent Spanish speakers did much of the work.)
Road to Perdition... Yep, well said. CAB has objected to these plans because of dangerous long term conditions on the Lower East Side built by the City of Santa Barbara. Where was Oscar, Friedman, Harmon, Sneddon, Jordan and others now that rage is building all over the City? Hiding.
We have sent letters to the Council objecting to the narrowing of Milpas using State St. as a classic example. Zero Answer. Anti Car, Former Councilman Grant House, stated he was hoping the Milpas Roundabout would discourage traffic on Milpas; and attending a business/city outreach on Milpas sated he was for narrowing Milpas 100% of the businesses told him no.
""expedite the installation of reverse parking at East Beach:""" Attending the SBCAG Meeting of April 2025, there was conversation before the meeting by more then one staff member. About Cabrillo and this item. They stated it has not worked, created issue for bike riders, and most drivers ignore the rules about accessing Cabrillo when leaving. Game, Set, Match.
Donovan's comment about CEQA & Builders Remedy is spot on. Question what party created CEQA? The Democrats. What party changed CEQA to allow density infill? The Democrats. What party created the Builders Remedy?" The Democrats. Who wants to burn CEQA that was created by environmentalist Democrats? The Democrats.
What is driving this? Among others the useless Vision Zero - as a friend says Zero Vision.
CAB sent the Council a copy of an LA TIMES article that stated the City of Los Angels 10 VZ program had failed. It was written 5 years ago. On LA Radio that as of April 2025 a City of Los Angeles 10 year review of Vision Zero came to the same conclusion....a waste of time.
Yet this is the driving force behind the narrowing of De la Vina, narrowing of Cabrillo Blvd., the continued closing of State St., the current idiotic plans to narrow Milpas and more. Oh where is the Council and environmentalist over the dangerous use of E-Motorcycles on the streets?
CAB is a non-lined non-profit, we have Democrats, declined to state, gasp Republicans. So when a Legislature and Councils that screw the Public because they know "better" and fail, and happen to have the Democrat Label - don't look at us. Look in a mirror.
Comparing Tijuana to Santa Barbara is like comparing feces to diamonds. There is no comparison. Gutierrez needs to relieve himself of his council position and move to Tijuana if he likes it so much. Therein lies the problem, we have third worlders like Gutierrez running Santa Barbara literally into the ground with their mentality.
The Neal Taylor Nature Center Fish Derby is a great way to get kids actively involved with nature. Lots of hands on activities plus a chance to “fish as a family”. Spending time outdoors, experiencing nature in your own backyard is why founder, Neal Taylor, always reminded us to “Look with your eyes and see with your heart”. Please join us next weekend for the annual Fish Derby.
Wow, just when you think things could not get worse. Thank you, Bonnie, for the update on the ongoing destruction of Santa Barbara and the links on who to contact to oppose the upcoming bill SB79. It is unbelievable to see the mess that is being created.
In considering the cause of problems as stated, I find myself wondering ( being a native of Cambridge, Mass. and therefore having much faith in the results of serious education ) what are the qualifications of our present leaders?? Anyone? That may enlighten us as to the dilemma presented here.
We are witnessing the transformation of our precious city into just another example of the cities in So Cal many of us fled. Tall buildings with no parking, crowded streets, governed by feckless and oblivious city and Sacramento leaders. We chose to come to SB when it was special, and now we are seeing that character evaporate in the name of housing mandates and bike lanes. Silence in the face of this travesty only enables the developers and ideologues, who are allowing the island of beauty known as Santa Barbara to evaporate. We need to stand and fight.
Fascinating article, Bonnie. The first thing that caught my attention is the turn-right-only sign with the "Except Bicycles." This kind of thinking simply provides bicyclists another example of not following the laws of motor vehicles. No doubt the city people snicker at the motorist's inability to travel over the divider. It seems a fire engine can transverse over the sloped divider, but it appears the divider is an obstruction which slows down a fire truck. NOT GOOD ... the people in a fire truck save lives and a few seconds can count if arriving late to their destination in time to save a life. A long hook-and-ladder truck probably has more navigating issues around the corner. As you mention, multiple exits are required for emergencies ... a reminder of the LA fire hazards. SB79 has got to go. Simply another example of big business money handed to politicians. The Dems want to build more "Chicago" type cities anywhere there's money to be made. Paradise isn't in their vocabulary, only money is their talk. When you see a line of tractors entering the city, it's time to bear arms!
My next vehicle is an army tank. The focus of area conversations is the price of jack hammers purchased in bulk to remove all City imposed irrational changes to Milpad, Alisos, and connecting streets. The Eastside has been destroyed; the Milpas at Gutierrez project must be stopped. We are not safe. Only salmon swim upstream. Residents in a disaster must come downhill. Think Paradise Fire, Palisades Fire and our local fast moving Tea Fire. Drive by at 6a to see how many current residents must park in CVS & Trader Joe’s lots. Streets are narrow, then made by City Council one way, one lane passable. Gridlock is daily and dangerous. Recall them. Find competent candidates to support and elect.
The city and county wish to house more city and county workers. No doubt they would love to eliminate everyone except for government people "working" and doing nothing. The money to run their city and county operations trickles down from the State and Feds to feed them all. Everyone (city and county folk) is happy and laugh all the way to the bank.
Think about all the property taxes collected with all the housing structures. Anytime you wonder why the city/county wants more housing, it's because of the taxes to be collected and the free money to move into foreign bank accounts.
Go look at the flood map at 630 Garden Street. It is in a flood zone. The senior engineer in the Community Development Department confirmed it before I distributed pictures to the ABR on Monday. In fact, neighbors already have water creeping up between their tiles and pooling because the entire area use to be a lagoon. AND it is in a HIGH LIQUEFACTION zone.
It sounds like your vision of private property is more like that of a commune where people exercise collective property rights over our neighbors. If you want to join an HOA, fine. Just don’t use the government to make the rest of us sign up for your idea of “private property.”
No, how about the single-story homes that are right next door to this 4-story development? Do they have any rights? They are private property owners and not HOA...
Yes, they own their property, not their neighbor’s. You’re asserting that you should use the government to control your neighbor’s legal use of their property.
Thanks, so that means at city council next Tuesday, we can tell council they can put their rent control etc. on their properties not ours. Just asking... :)
I didn't say you support rent control. Next Tuesday at council Sneddon, Gutierrez, Harmon and Santa-Maria want more control on landlords and will vote it in. Last January it failed, and they are bringing it back now that Santa-Maria has replaced Alejandra.
Thanks Bonnie, I was going to write a letter to the editor at Noozhawk but you say it way better than I could have. I would only add one thing. A few weeks ago I watched a meeting of the ABR about this awful project, I was watching on the city of SB You Tube channel.
At the same time the movie, "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" was playing on TCM on my tv. I looked from one screen to the other and thought, which is more crazy?
What you wrote above would be a great letter to the editor :)
Well, I did. You can read it on Noozhawk although I have to type "Letters" into the search box to read the letters.
Unfortunately they edited out the paragraph where I said, "I can wrap this up for you because over on Santa Barbara Current, Bonnie Donovan posted a great article about 418 N. Milpas. She hits all the points that I would have brought up and she does it in a way much better than I."
Then I went on to say, "I don't agree with a lot of the sentiments of the SBC viewers on national politics but on local issues, and in this case very local issues we are all posting similar comments. Even though we have different ideas about national politics, maybe everyone in SB can come together to stop these ridiculous, gigantic projects."
As I said, this was all edited out. I don't blame Bill Mac, it's his site.
Such a shame. I hear this a lot, if someone mentions my column or SB Current they cut it. Good for trying :)
Thank you Bonnie as always..
Jerry Shalhoob
Btw, I bought a rack of lamb on an Easter special from Shalhoob's Butcher Shop. It was so delicious and such a great price! I made a Parsley-Mint-Feta Pesto to go with it and Duck Fat Potatoes. My husband loved it.
You are the best, Bonnie. I thought I was going to wake up to another debate about whether eating chocolate bunnies on Easter is ok for Christians, and thankfully we're onto another crucifixion that is unfortunately happening right now, which is that of our city. There won't be a resurrection of this city. We can't wait for its death, we have to stop the persecution and murder of it now.
One thing we're up against is that these criminals, lead by Scott Wiener, don't fret about the fire dangers they're setting up here - fires like the ones that destroyed Altadena and Pacific Palisades. No, they welcome the destruction. Then they can build their 15 minute cities and make billions from their real estate development ties.
The misuse of the words "crucifixion" and "resurrection" for political purposes on Great & Holy Friday is offensive!
Santa Barbara is a Charter City. Stop electing weak, passive, politically ambitious Council Reps dependent on Dem Party for a pay check. These financially dependent reps refuse to push back on Sacramento.
Thank you, completely agree,
Good article Bonnie.
"418 N. Milpas Receives Final Design Approval" Should anyone be surprised? The property owner came to CAB for support a number of years ago to stop destruction of Milpas. We said great what are you going to do to help us? The door shut and never opened again. This was just after we did a survey of businesses and residents within 2 blocks of Milpas proving what SantaMaria wants is not what the residents want. (2 fluent Spanish speakers did much of the work.)
Road to Perdition... Yep, well said. CAB has objected to these plans because of dangerous long term conditions on the Lower East Side built by the City of Santa Barbara. Where was Oscar, Friedman, Harmon, Sneddon, Jordan and others now that rage is building all over the City? Hiding.
We have sent letters to the Council objecting to the narrowing of Milpas using State St. as a classic example. Zero Answer. Anti Car, Former Councilman Grant House, stated he was hoping the Milpas Roundabout would discourage traffic on Milpas; and attending a business/city outreach on Milpas sated he was for narrowing Milpas 100% of the businesses told him no.
""expedite the installation of reverse parking at East Beach:""" Attending the SBCAG Meeting of April 2025, there was conversation before the meeting by more then one staff member. About Cabrillo and this item. They stated it has not worked, created issue for bike riders, and most drivers ignore the rules about accessing Cabrillo when leaving. Game, Set, Match.
Donovan's comment about CEQA & Builders Remedy is spot on. Question what party created CEQA? The Democrats. What party changed CEQA to allow density infill? The Democrats. What party created the Builders Remedy?" The Democrats. Who wants to burn CEQA that was created by environmentalist Democrats? The Democrats.
What is driving this? Among others the useless Vision Zero - as a friend says Zero Vision.
CAB sent the Council a copy of an LA TIMES article that stated the City of Los Angels 10 VZ program had failed. It was written 5 years ago. On LA Radio that as of April 2025 a City of Los Angeles 10 year review of Vision Zero came to the same conclusion....a waste of time.
Yet this is the driving force behind the narrowing of De la Vina, narrowing of Cabrillo Blvd., the continued closing of State St., the current idiotic plans to narrow Milpas and more. Oh where is the Council and environmentalist over the dangerous use of E-Motorcycles on the streets?
CAB is a non-lined non-profit, we have Democrats, declined to state, gasp Republicans. So when a Legislature and Councils that screw the Public because they know "better" and fail, and happen to have the Democrat Label - don't look at us. Look in a mirror.
Thanks Bonnie.
My heart hurts for Santa Barbara
It is so sad :(
Comparing Tijuana to Santa Barbara is like comparing feces to diamonds. There is no comparison. Gutierrez needs to relieve himself of his council position and move to Tijuana if he likes it so much. Therein lies the problem, we have third worlders like Gutierrez running Santa Barbara literally into the ground with their mentality.
The Neal Taylor Nature Center Fish Derby is a great way to get kids actively involved with nature. Lots of hands on activities plus a chance to “fish as a family”. Spending time outdoors, experiencing nature in your own backyard is why founder, Neal Taylor, always reminded us to “Look with your eyes and see with your heart”. Please join us next weekend for the annual Fish Derby.
Wow, just when you think things could not get worse. Thank you, Bonnie, for the update on the ongoing destruction of Santa Barbara and the links on who to contact to oppose the upcoming bill SB79. It is unbelievable to see the mess that is being created.
Ms. Donovan: A COMMENT WITH TEETH. THANK YOU.
In considering the cause of problems as stated, I find myself wondering ( being a native of Cambridge, Mass. and therefore having much faith in the results of serious education ) what are the qualifications of our present leaders?? Anyone? That may enlighten us as to the dilemma presented here.
Good morning, Ms. Freeman, great question. Anyone out there know the qualifications of Newsom, Limon, Hart, etc. ?
Thanks J.L.
Thank you Bonnie !
We are witnessing the transformation of our precious city into just another example of the cities in So Cal many of us fled. Tall buildings with no parking, crowded streets, governed by feckless and oblivious city and Sacramento leaders. We chose to come to SB when it was special, and now we are seeing that character evaporate in the name of housing mandates and bike lanes. Silence in the face of this travesty only enables the developers and ideologues, who are allowing the island of beauty known as Santa Barbara to evaporate. We need to stand and fight.
Thank you Polly..
Fascinating article, Bonnie. The first thing that caught my attention is the turn-right-only sign with the "Except Bicycles." This kind of thinking simply provides bicyclists another example of not following the laws of motor vehicles. No doubt the city people snicker at the motorist's inability to travel over the divider. It seems a fire engine can transverse over the sloped divider, but it appears the divider is an obstruction which slows down a fire truck. NOT GOOD ... the people in a fire truck save lives and a few seconds can count if arriving late to their destination in time to save a life. A long hook-and-ladder truck probably has more navigating issues around the corner. As you mention, multiple exits are required for emergencies ... a reminder of the LA fire hazards. SB79 has got to go. Simply another example of big business money handed to politicians. The Dems want to build more "Chicago" type cities anywhere there's money to be made. Paradise isn't in their vocabulary, only money is their talk. When you see a line of tractors entering the city, it's time to bear arms!
My next vehicle is an army tank. The focus of area conversations is the price of jack hammers purchased in bulk to remove all City imposed irrational changes to Milpad, Alisos, and connecting streets. The Eastside has been destroyed; the Milpas at Gutierrez project must be stopped. We are not safe. Only salmon swim upstream. Residents in a disaster must come downhill. Think Paradise Fire, Palisades Fire and our local fast moving Tea Fire. Drive by at 6a to see how many current residents must park in CVS & Trader Joe’s lots. Streets are narrow, then made by City Council one way, one lane passable. Gridlock is daily and dangerous. Recall them. Find competent candidates to support and elect.
Residents need to be "in their face" in order to be recognized. I like your fighting approach. Unfortunately, we can't be nice.
The city and county wish to house more city and county workers. No doubt they would love to eliminate everyone except for government people "working" and doing nothing. The money to run their city and county operations trickles down from the State and Feds to feed them all. Everyone (city and county folk) is happy and laugh all the way to the bank.
Think about all the property taxes collected with all the housing structures. Anytime you wonder why the city/county wants more housing, it's because of the taxes to be collected and the free money to move into foreign bank accounts.
Too much housing is TAX EXEMPT.
Here I thought Republicans were the party of private property
rights.
Correct, did you listen to the private property owners (neighbors) that spoke at the meetings?
418 N Milpas is not located within the 100-year flood zone.
Go look at the flood map at 630 Garden Street. It is in a flood zone. The senior engineer in the Community Development Department confirmed it before I distributed pictures to the ABR on Monday. In fact, neighbors already have water creeping up between their tiles and pooling because the entire area use to be a lagoon. AND it is in a HIGH LIQUEFACTION zone.
To add to this, go to the FEMA site and look up the address. It falls in a FEMA flood zone!
It sounds like your vision of private property is more like that of a commune where people exercise collective property rights over our neighbors. If you want to join an HOA, fine. Just don’t use the government to make the rest of us sign up for your idea of “private property.”
No, how about the single-story homes that are right next door to this 4-story development? Do they have any rights? They are private property owners and not HOA...
Yes, they own their property, not their neighbor’s. You’re asserting that you should use the government to control your neighbor’s legal use of their property.
Thanks, so that means at city council next Tuesday, we can tell council they can put their rent control etc. on their properties not ours. Just asking... :)
Where did you get the idea that I support rent control? I consider price controls an unlawful taking.
I didn't say you support rent control. Next Tuesday at council Sneddon, Gutierrez, Harmon and Santa-Maria want more control on landlords and will vote it in. Last January it failed, and they are bringing it back now that Santa-Maria has replaced Alejandra.
https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/58ae26a2990849d3acaa08b5445c7f39