Tag archives: Butterfly Beach

Biltmore Project at the Land Use Meeting
By Joanne A Calitri   |   January 21, 2025

The Montecito Association Land Use Committee (LUC) January meeting was held Tuesday, January 7, in person at the Montecito Library community room and on Zoom. The meeting was called to order by its Chair, Dorinne Lee Johnson. Attendees were the Land Use Committee members, MA Executive Director Houghton Hyatt, MA President Doug Black, land surveyor […]

Butterfly’s Pork Palace: Living High on the Hog
By Leana Orsua   |   November 19, 2024

It’s fair to say the path to everlasting love comes in many shapes, sizes, colors, and in some cases fabrics. Just steps away from the white sands of Montecito’s Butterfly Beach, there is a quiet beauty and tranquil ambiance lining the road to one such love story that sits on full display – many years […]

Explore Ecology Call for Volunteers or the 40th Year for Coastal Clean-Up Day
By Montecito Journal   |   August 27, 2024

This year marks the 40th Anniversary of Coastal Clean Up Day, and the team at Explore Ecology is putting out the call for volunteers early this year to celebrate it.  Your trusty Our Town news reporter, Joanne A Calitri, has been covering this event for years, and shares, “It is such a worthwhile and time-well-spent […]

More Land Loss
By Montecito Journal   |   May 14, 2024

I thought you might be interested to know there has recently been more land loss on Butterfly Beach. Also, I have been reporting for years to various bodies about how undermined the pedestrian/bike path is. Well over a month ago they put out signs to warn people. It has been reported in local news that […]

Harmful Algae Blooms
By Meghan Cleary   |   July 25, 2023

Domoic Acid Crisis Drives Sea Lion and Dolphin Deaths: Local Organization Rescues Record-Breaking 85 Sea Lions in June In the early hours of a Saturday morning on Butterfly Beach, a small crowd gathers. The focus of their attention is brown, unmoving, and looks to be a large rock or piece of driftwood. But closer inspection […]

Is the Sea Lion Population at Risk?
By Meghan Cleary   |   July 25, 2023

Sea lion population numbers are stable after more than 50 years of federal protection. But with the combination of more frequent and escalating algae blooms, and so many pregnant animals and their newborn pups being affected, it’s up for debate as to whether that will continue. “It’s a big question whether the population numbers will […]

Cameras at the Hot Springs: On Whose Authority?
By Montecito Journal   |   March 14, 2023

On Feb. 16, 2023, a camera was placed facing a newly restored pool at the Montecito Hot Springs. The camera bore a tag that had printed on it “County of Santa Barbara, Public Works, Trail and Creek Monitoring in Progress, Do Not Tamper or Remove, Enforced by County Sheriff.”  The Dept. of Public Works wasn’t […]

Ins and Outs: Montecito and Her Many Special Neighborhoods
By Mark Ashton Hunt   |   August 9, 2022

Montecito is a small town with a big presence, and it’s not just our famous residents… it’s this place. Just a mile or few from the ocean to the highest home on the hill. Nature all around. Creeks and hiking trails, small chic shops, and amazing restaurants, a reputation warranted and earned over the last […]

Coral Casino Under Renovation
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   June 21, 2022

Earlier this week, Coral Casino Beach and Cabana Club owner Ty Warner gave members an update for his plans on reopening the exclusive beachside club, which has been closed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. It is anticipated that the club will reopen in the first quarter of 2023, after improvements […]

Butterfly Pedestrian Undercrossing Project
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   June 10, 2021

Earlier this week, the Montecito Association Land Use and Transportation Committee heard from Caltrans reps regarding a new project that will bring the pedestrian freeway undercrossing at Butterfly Lane up to ADA compliance. The project will begin in late fall of this year, through late spring 2022, and it will cause the closure of the […]

Letters to the Editor
By Montecito Journal   |   October 1, 2019

Sue Happy Supervisors The old saying, “What goes around, comes around,” should be the new County motto! That is, our County Board of Supervisors (BOS) has done virtually nothing to prevent forest fires by way of reducing fuel loads or creating adequate buffers between the urban and wildland interface. Moreover, they have not maximized the […]

Bits and Bites
By J'Amy Brown   |   August 15, 2019

Montecito’s Butterfly and Hammond’s beaches seem to be a magnate for chunks of Neptune’s unwanted junk. A few months back it was boat hulls that washed ashore. Now, since July, a rust-crusted corrugated pipe has parked itself on Hammond’s beach. It rolled around for a while before splitting in half and ending perched on the […]

Montecito Polar Bears Swim NY2019
By Joanne A Calitri   |   January 10, 2019

The annual Polar Bears Swim in Montecito was held New Year’s Day 2019 at Butterfly Beach on a gloriously sunny day, high tide, with ocean waters at 57 degrees Fahrenheit matching the daily highs of 60 degrees, and a wind-chill on shore making it feel like 32. Holding her place as the longest ranking active […]

A Montecito “Boulder” Park
By Montecito Journal   |   January 18, 2018

Please, let’s keep as many boulders that have clobbered our community as possible; place them someplace in Montecito (Manning Park, Toro Canyon Park, the Cold Spring area, the lot we traded with the Y next to MUS) and build a big, big awesome (think Awahnee) community stone house recreation center. Have several big outdoor stone […]

Dodgers Karma
By Montecito Journal   |   November 9, 2017

I have been a Dodgers fan for over 25 years. Some of my favorite players were Piazza, Karros, Mondesi, Nomo, Kershaw, just to name a few. The one thing I have not been a fan of was, and is, the ownerships. Rupert Murdoch and the Fox people were bad. Trading [Mike] Piazza was one of […]