Tag archives: Montecito Planning Commission

Last week the Montecito Planning Commission (MPC) received an annual maintenance report on the Debris Flow Mitigation Project.  Pat McElroy, a rep for the citizen-led group The Project for Resilient Communities (TPRC), which spearheaded the installation of the six steel debris flow nets that were placed in the canyons above Montecito in 2018, told the […]

The announcement of the new restaurant operation team comes on the heels of the dismissal of multiple appeals made by Coral Casino members against Warner’s application to amend the Coral Casino’s land use permit.  The Coral Casino operations team was in front of Montecito Planning Commission in April, asking for amendments to two of its […]

Several neighbors living by the Music Academy have filed appeals to the Montecito Planning Commission’s approval of the Academy’s proposal to revise its Conditional Use Permit. Last month, the MPC voted 3-1 (with Commissioner Sandy Stahl dissenting) to approve the proposed revisions, which include changes to events at the Academy’s property, located on Fairway Road […]

On the heels of receiving approval of changes to operations at the Coral Casino by the Montecito Planning Commission – and subsequent appeals to those changes from five Coral Casino club members – Biltmore and Coral Casino owner Ty Warner’s team was in front of the Montecito Board of Architectural Review last week, asking for […]

With a hopeful intention of reopening later this summer, the Coral Casino operations team was in front of Montecito Planning Commission last week – asking for amendments to two of its 92 conditions of operation of the Biltmore Hotel and Coral Casino Development Plan, which were originally approved in 2005.  The proposed amendments include reducing […]

Also at the SB Board of Supervisors hearing, local realtor and longtime resident Sandy Stahl was appointed to the Montecito Planning Commission, filling the vacancy left by Susan Keller, who was removed from the commission in January after nearly a decade of service.  Stahl has been a resident of Montecito since 1982, and has been […]

I must add my protest to Susan’s arbitrary removal from the Montecito Planning Commission (MPC).  As a 20-year resident of Montecito, who recently had an issue important to us and our neighborhood before the MPC, Susan Keller was one of two commissioners who took the time to listen to us, actually visit the site, and […]

At the first hearing of the year of the Montecito Planning Commission (MPC), the commission was back in person for the first time since before the pandemic. Chair Ron Pulice thanked former Commissioner Susan Keller for her nearly 10 years of service on the commission; it was decided that election of the 2023 MPC Chair, […]

In the County of Santa Barbara Board of Supervisors meeting that occurred on January 24, 2023, First District Supervisor and Chair Das Williams asked the board to approve the removal of Susan Keller from the Montecito Planning Commission (MPC). According to Williams, this request comes after two MPC members stated to him that they would […]

Project Progress Highway 101 Widening Project  The long-awaited widening project from Carpinteria to Santa Barbara was discussed at length in 2022, with countless meetings to discuss design, construction, timing, and other details related to the addition of a third lane through Montecito.  The Montecito segment of the project (called 4D) includes widening 1.4 miles of […]

Early next year, the Montecito Planning Commission (MPC) will further consider a project by the Santa Barbara Cemetery that involves the subterranean installation of 2,358 cubic yards pre-cast, double-depth, concrete crypts and associated grading and drainage.  The proposed project will require approximately 9,859 cubic yards of cut and 4,066 cubic yards of fill over an […]

In a six-hour meeting last week, the Montecito Planning Commission (MPC) completed their review of the 101 Highway project through Montecito, sending their recommendations and comments to the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission (SBPC). This was the final hearing in a series of three conceptual reviews at MPC. SBPC will consider the project at two […]

The Montecito Planning Commission had its first opportunity to look at the freeway widening project through Montecito last week, with a conceptual hearing held last Wednesday. The project had previously been seen by Montecito Board of Architectural Review in September, February, and March.  Project planner Chris Schmuckal gave Commissioners a background on the regional transportation […]

At last week’s Montecito Planning Commission hearing, the Commission was briefed on the Highway 101 Widening Project, which will eventually be in front of the Commission for conceptual review once the project application is deemed complete.  Project planner Nicole Lieu explained to the Commission that the final design of the project is still in flux […]

Last week at a well-attended Montecito community meeting regarding the 101 freeway widening project through Montecito, reps from the project reported that sound walls that had been proposed in the Montecito portion have been removed due to flooding concerns.  The project is in initial planning review with the County of Santa Barbara as part of […]

At last week’s Montecito Planning Commission hearing, commissioners voted unanimously to appoint commissioner Ron Pulice as the chair of the Commission. While there was some discussion about Pulice’s current non-resident status – he currently resides elsewhere in the county – it was decided that Pulice would be able to finish his term. Commissioners Susan Keller […]

The proposed 24-hour gatehouse at the entrance of Edgecliff Lane was approved at Montecito Board of Architectural Review last week, after gaining unanimous approval by the Montecito Planning Commission in December. The location of the gatehouse is near the entrance to Hammond’s Beach at the end of Eucalyptus Lane, and will be built adjacent to […]

Last week, the Montecito Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend to the county’s Board of Supervisors to extend local ordinance provisions related to COVID-19.  The provisions have been in place since last summer, when the Board of Supervisors approved the Temporary Development Standard Suspension Ordinance Amendments to implement regulations regarding the temporary suspension of compliance […]

Earlier this week the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors appointed Marshall Miller to the Montecito Planning Commission. His appointment was for the vacancy left by Charles Newman, who stepped down from the Commission at the end of his second term in December 2020. Growing up in Montecito, Miller attended All Saints, Montecito Union School, […]

We are the residents of Linden Meadow in Carpinteria, a community of 40 homes immediately adjacent to the greenhouses located at 4801 Foothill and 1495 Sterling Road in Carpinteria. For the last few years, we have been regularly subjected to the heavy, skunky odors of cannabis growing in the greenhouses surrounding our area. The smell […]