Montecito Association Meets

At this month’s Montecito Association (MA) Board of Directors meeting, MUS Board chair Gwyn Lurie and former Santa Barbara Fire chief Pat McElroy reported on the work they are doing as part of the Partnership for Resilient Communities. The group of private citizens, which includes Lurie, McElroy, Brett Mathews, and Joe Cole, have formed a relationship with the County to help the rebuilding process, given the fact that Montecito doesn’t have a mayor. 

“We asked ourselves, ‘What can we do now and how can we help the County?’” Lurie said. “We don’t want to be limited in rebuilding by the bandwidth and available money at the County,” she said. The group has enlisted former FEMA consultant David Fukutomi to work at the County’s CEO office and advise reps on how best to rebuild Montecito. The second project is commissioning mapping that is currently being conducted to improve the drainage system in Montecito. “We wanted to look at what is possible,” McElroy said. (For more about the partnership, see Bob Hazard’s report on page 5.) 

The board voted unanimously to conceptually approve the idea presented at last week’s Land Use Committee meeting brought forth by Bucket Brigade co-founders Josiah Hamilton and Abe Powell: a pedestrian pathway along North Jameson between San Ysidro Road and Olive Mill. The Bucket Brigade founders are hopeful to improve the area with a decomposed granite pathway similar to the one on San Ysidro Road; the trail would allow people in the Montecito Oaks and La Vereda to more safely and easily access Coast Village Road, Butterfly Beach, and All Saints By-the-Sea. Hamilton and Powell are currently working with Public Works Deputy director Chris Sneddon and architects to plan the path, which will be buffered by plantings and landscaping.

During a long and lively discussion, the board voted 8-6 to send a letter to the Board of Supervisors (BOS) regarding the like-for-like ordinance amendments that will be heard by the BOS next week. The MA is asking that “like-for-like” properties required to rebuild in a different location on the parcel be reviewed by a designated committee of design professionals but would not appealable by neighbors. The committee would review the plans for consistency with the Community Plan and good neighbor policies. The BOS will meet next Tuesday, May 15. 

Sheila Snow with the Montecito Trails Foundation reported that MTF is working with the Forest Service, FEMA, and the County to rebuild the trails in Montecito. She reported that while the trails on Forest Service property are currently closed, the front country trails are mostly usable, and encouraged residents to get back on the trails. 

During public comment, the new president of the Ennisbrook Homeowners Association reported that his group is working with the Bucket Brigade and the Land Trust to clean out debris and re-mulch the 40 acres of property owned by Ennisbrook that was affected by the mudslide. During Community Reports, Diane Gabriel, the general manager of the Montecito Sanitary District, reported that the cost to repair the District’s infrastructure was $1.6 million, and it is expected that FEMA will reimburse the District $1.5M. Kevin Taylor with Montecito Fire District reported that the official start of high-fire season is this Monday, May 14, and that the annual weed abatement deadline has been extended to June 15. MUS superintendent Anthony Ranii, reported that three vacancies are coming up on the Montecito Union School board; a meeting at 3 pm on May 15 at MUS will be an opportunity to learn about the requirements for serving on the school board. 

Cold Spring School superintendent Amy Alzina reported that the campus will receive a memorial bench made from a fallen Sycamore tree to commemorate the two students who were lost in the January 9 debris flow; there will be a ceremony on campus later this month.