A Message to MBAR

I’m writing to express my deep concern regarding the sudden and dramatic change in the appearance of our neighborhood, which seems to have unfolded in the last few weeks on your watch.

As I’m sure you have noticed, there are now copious amounts of enormous fiber optic wires, apparently installed by someone with an enthusiasm for large overhead tangled webs. These new wires are not just mingling with the usual utility lines hidden in the trees… these thick wires are performing an aerial ballet of low hanging chaos and look awful. You can now see them crisscrossing overhead on Hot Springs, Sycamore Canyon, East Mountain, and other streets – all without intervention from your esteemed board.

I cannot help pointing out the irony here… for the last fifteen years, your board has busied themselves micromanaging the minutiae of residents’ projects (myself included), yet this colossal eyesore was apparently of no concern. To say that these new installations have drastically altered the character of the area would be an understatement. Our once-quaint neighborhood now resembles something more akin to a developing nation’s urban sprawl.

I personally have endured your “attentive” oversight on a number of insignificant items such as the time I was forced to pick old timey path lights that the board preferred (rather than the simple modern ones I had selected) even though they were not visible to anyone at all, sat 12” off the ground and were behind a gate! On another project, I had to spend thousands of dollars, and months of delay, to have my landscape architect draw up plans for a mandated walking path in front of my home on Hot Springs – only for you to realize (after I pointed it out in the meeting after the money and delay) that my house was not on the east side of the street with the path!

How curious that such microscopic scrutiny is routinely applied to inconsequential and unseen details while miles of thick, obtrusive fiber-optic cables are now draped across our streets. How did the board, usually so quick to pounce on every trivial detail, manage to sleep through the installation of these unsightly wires, which now overwhelm our once picturesque streets?

In closing, I would like clarity on how this situation was allowed to occur and what steps the board plans to take to address it.

Sincerely, Dara K. Barker

Leave the Lawn Alone

To whoever stole our “Harris for President” yard sign the other day: Every time you take our sign, know that we’ll purchase another; so in effect, you’re contributing to the Harris/Walz campaign. Your right to your opinion doesn’t include denying us the right to express ours. And as much as we’d like to take down Trump/Vance signs, we don’t, because those people have the right to be idiots just as much as you. Finally, as a really wise person recently said, “Mind your own damn business.”

Clay Williams

Bring Back the Biltmore

As a 50 plus year member of the Coral Casino and neighbor of the Biltmore I am wholeheartedly supporting Ty Warner’s team and their well thought out plan to upgrade the gem of Montecito – the historic Biltmore. The pools are not only aesthetically pleasing but will be a welcome addition to the resort and have zero impact on the neighborhood. It’s been way too long that the county hasn’t received much needed bed tax (look around – we need it!), the wonderful staff have not been employed, and guests and locals alike have not had the opportunity to use this remarkable and beautiful hotel. Please let common sense prevail and let’s enjoy the Biltmore once again! 

David Peterson

Preserve What Cannot Be Replaced

The greed that is perpetuated in Montecito by the Caruso Team is indefensible.

Montecito residents do not need nor want more high-end shopping, more apartments under the guise of “low-income housing,” nor do Montecito residents need nor want more traffic congestion from cars of guests who go to the hotel and are not Montecito residents. Neither do we want trash haulers and delivery trucks at all hours of the day and night, toxic fumes polluting the air, fuel trucks required to fill up the tanks of the visitors’ cars, thus creating more congestion along the narrow roads throughout the Montecito, the immense volume of water wasted for laundry, dining, and landscaping, and do not want views of the ocean obliterated by tall buildings – all for the benefit of an avaricious group of individuals.

It would be a monumental mistake to continue to destroy the beautiful and bucolic ambiance of Montecito. 

Montecito is the rare haven for privacy-loving families and individuals who appreciate quiet elegance, nature and the irreplaceable quality of life that Montecito offers.

Montecito itself is the destination for visitors and tourists to get away from precisely what Caruso plans.

Please stop the irreparable spoiling of Montecito.

Thank you.  

Respectfully, 

Ms. Tolin