Montecito Association Meets

In last week’s edition we briefly reported on the proposed plans by the Rosewood Miramar Resort to expand its offerings. Reps of the property, owned by Rick Caruso, were due to be in front of the Montecito Association Board of Directors earlier this week, but had to cancel due to illness. 

A brief conversation was had between the board members and members of the public regarding the proposed project, which includes adding more employee housing as well as 12 new resort shops plus a café, and 15 market-rate apartments that would be available for long-term rent. The employee housing would be located on what is currently the eastern parking lot, and the new shops and market-rate apartments would be located on the western corner of the property, at the corner of South Jameson and Eucalyptus Lane. Former Montecito Association (MA) board member Cliff Gherson, who lives nearby, said there is neighbor concern over parking for the resort, especially during busy times including summer, holidays, weddings, etc. 

The permit application for the project was submitted to the County two weeks ago, and the proposal will be required to be seen by Montecito Planning Commission and Montecito Board of Architectural Review. Parking and traffic concerns are likely to be brought up at these hearings, according to MA board members. We’ll have more as the plans come together. 

During Community Reports, the Board was briefed by several leaders in our community, including superintendents from both public elementary schools. Anthony Ranii with Montecito Union School said the $14M facility project at the school is still underway, with the kindergarten and first grade wing of the main building expected to be completed by the end of the school year. Both Ranii and Dr. Amy Alzina with Cold Spring School reported that they are continuing to enhance safety measures at both school campuses. There was recently a School Safety Coalition workshop held at MUS, in which reps from the Montecito Fire Protection District attended to review and revise safety plans. “It’s important for us to remain on the leading edge for schools in our district,” said Montecito Fire Chief David Neels. Dr. Alzina added that her campus has recently implemented a locked gate at the front, with visitors having to be buzzed in after checking in via video camera. Neels added there are several preventative measures that can be taken to prevent school violence, which includes a heightened awareness by staff. 

Ranii also reported that chronic absenteeism of students has become a larger problem since the end of the pandemic, with parents keeping their students out of school more liberally. He said educating parents about the detrimental effects of prolonged absences is ongoing. 

Both schools have their fall festivals next week: MUS will hold theirs on Saturday, October 21 and Cold Spring School will hold theirs on Friday afternoon, October 27.  

Santa Barbara County Sheriff Lieutenant Butch Arnoldi gave a rundown of recent crimes in the area in the last month. They include a trespassing at the Music Academy; DUI at Via Real at Padaro Lane; domestic dispute at Rosewood Miramar; attempted vehicle theft at Lookout Park, with a suspect arrested; auction item (guitar) stolen from the One805 concert event; threats made between neighbors on El Bosque; bloodied subject in the roadway on San Leandro Lane; and a jogger assaulted with a knife on Rincon County Beach, with the suspect detained two days later on Coast Village Road. 

Chief Neels spoke about this week’s warm weather, with upstaffing planned due to increased temperatures, low relative humidity, and increased winds. Many in Montecito were notified by Southern California Edison that it is considering a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) in the eastern area of the city of Santa Barbara and into parts of Montecito, due to an increased risk for wildfires. Visit www.sce.com/outage-center/check-outage-status for more info on this potential outage.

The Fire District is also preparing for rainy season, as a “Super El Niño” is expected this winter. Chief Neels is working with local weather trackers to place moisture monitoring devices in the Santa Barbara front country. Chief Neels said the district experienced 1,200 landslide-type events of various sizes and in various areas of the district during January’s storms, which is a concern given we are five years out from the Thomas Fire event. “We are leaning in in every way possible to prepare for these winter storms,” Chief Neels said, adding that there will be a series of short public service announcements filmed to be aired in various media outlets. “We are taking the potential storm season seriously,” he said, adding that FEMA’s new iteration of storm impact maps are expected early next year. 

Montecito Water District general manager Nick Turner reported that the Smart Meter program is up and running, with over 560 district customers signing up for leak alerts and high-water use notifications from their real-time water meter. 

Darcel Elliott with Supervisor Das William’s office reported that next week Supervisor Williams will hold a Town Hall with California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara at Cold Spring School. The event will be on Wednesday, October 18, from 6 to 7 pm. 

Elliott also spoke about a new gate that has been installed at the Hot Springs Trailhead, which will be closed to prevent trail access on high-fire weather days and during red flag alerts. 

The Montecito Association Board of Directors is seeking new directors for next year. For more information, visit www.montecitoassociation.org. 

The next Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 14.