A New Montecito

It looks like our “New Normal” is to be the evacuation of upwards of 30,000 residents who live below the Thomas Fire boundary from Carpinteria to Goleta, where the now bare soil has been completely upended and exposed to drying winds and constant desiccating sunshine. Every time a hint of precipitation shows up on a weather map, we will be advised to pack a bag and park our vehicles head-first out of garages and head for the nearest “safe” shelter. 

Thankfully, there are only at the most six weeks left of what has been a no-show rainy season. Next year, though, we are likely to live through a repeat, as not enough of our protective chaparral will have grown back by then to hold the soil that could propel rocks and boulders down the mountainside. The good news is that at sometime between now and, say, five years from now, things will return to the “old normal” of carefully watching our backcountry during fire season for signs of smoke.

During a recent dinner discussion with MJ and News-Press columnist Erin Graffy, author of How To Santa Barbara, and a number of historical guidebooks (her brother, Neal Graffy, is also a resident historian), she expressed the opinion that the recent combined calamity of the Thomas Fire and subsequent mud-boulder-and-debris flow was a transformational seminal event for Montecito. “The fire and mudslide has transformed this village,” she says, and compares the event to the 1906 earthquake and fire that leveled San Francisco and the 1925 Santa Barbara quake. In its aftermath, the San Francisco quake led to a more beautiful, organized, and prosperous place as city fathers rolled up their collective sleeves and began to plan and rebuild almost immediately after. 

Thanks in large part to Pearl Chase, the Santa Barbara shaker led to a similar result. After assessing the damage, Ms Chase and a small group drew up plans to transform what had been a Victorian-era city into a more Mediterranean-looking enclave, insisting upon low-profile structures, barrel-tiled roofs, and building codes in new construction. For Montecito – not a city but a special and defined place – Erin says, “This is its moment to consider what its future can and should be.”

Spurred on by Erin’s optimism, I began to analyze what our priorities are and/or should be in order to expedite and enhance the future desirability of Montecito. Here is what I believe our top four priorities are:

1) We’ve got to rid ourselves of the danger of another mud-boulder-debris event. And that, naturally, will require assessing the situation and mitigating it. Contractor Michael Conner (creator of the LifeCube) suggests negotiating a way of depositing a good portion of the excess mud and debris that remains in the hillside above Montecito into a deep ravine; he says there is one that may work just above Westmont. The land, level or rolling, could then become a park and available to the public. Concurrently, of course, we need to make whole those who will never be able or allowed to rebuild, and to map out wider designated areas for creek beds and the like.

2) We need to expedite the construction of three lanes on Highway 101 running through Montecito. Right now, if you live anywhere south of Montecito, beginning around 6:30 am and continuing to 9 am or so, traffic heading north becomes so congested that what once would have been a 10-minute trip has become a half-hour to forty-five minute ordeal. Those living even further south, in say Ventura, are looking at an hour to and hour-and-a-half commute. Ditto going south from about 3:30 to 6:30 pm. The afternoon congestion affects Montecito nearly every day as commuters heading south choose alternate routes, all of which disrupt surface streets such as Hot Springs, Olive Mill, East Valley, and others. We don’t have to tell you what this has done to Coast Village Road (though we appreciate the new four-way Stop signs at Butterfly Lane and Coast Village Circle).

What we need is to enlist the help of some high-profile residents, such as Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, or Ty Warner, to buttonhole the current governor or our prospective governor (likely either Gavin Newsom or Antonio Villaraigosa) and have him observe the 101 quandary. Heck, we may even be able to convince President Trump – who knows a little about construction himself – to observe the daily dilemma. Here’s where the talents of road construction bigwig Ron Pulice, Coast Village Association’s Bob Ludwick and Sharon Byrne, and our own Bob Hazard could come in handy. Instead of a seven-year project, 101 and its bridges could be widened in fewer than two years with a concerted effort to make it happen.

3) It’s time to underground all utility wires and poles. The visual pollution Cox Communication, Southern California Edison, and the growing group of ancillary “wireless” companies have added along the aboveground information trail should be banned from doing business in Montecito, unless their facilities go underground. And, they should pay to make that happen. Birnam Wood and Ennisbrook have undergrounded everything and visually it makes all the difference. Let’s do that for all of Montecito.

4) It is also time to establish a steady and reliable source of potable water, regardless of rainfall. And that means a Montecito desalination plant. We can either buy or lease such a plant, and the Montecito Sanitary District can help with locating it.

Sometime within the next three years, Montecito will revert to its exalted place as a desirable – and safe – place to live. Imagine how much more attractive it will be if the above four events take place.

We can do this, and anyone with more ideas along these lines is invited to write me (jim@montecitojournal.net) with their observations and suggestions. Let the conversation – and the work – begin.

This Just in:

There is now a Free Natural Materials Exchange website. The County Public Works Department established this site in response to the flooding and mud flows in Montecito earlier this year. This resource will facilitate the sharing of usable materials and limit the amount of debris heading to area landfills. By using this site, homeowners and contractors can connect directly with Montecito residents who have materials on their property they need to remove. The listed materials are free of charge. The parties involved in the exchange will determine how the material is transported from one property to another: http://sbcountymaterialexchange.com/.