Montecito Won’t Be Mira-Muzzled
If you live in or near Montecito or you consider it a part of your life, you likely appreciate what makes it such a special place. And while the credit for much of Montecito’s beauty and otherwise special qualities goes to Mother Nature, some of what we all treasure about this community, what makes it intentionally very different from other coveted communities around the world, is the loving curation and vigilant protection it has received by its residential guardians, for generations. The Montecito Association, Montecito Board of Architectural Review (MBAR), and the Montecito Planning Commission (MPC) have long been at the forefront of this guardianship.
SO IT WAS PARTICULARLY SHOCKING AND DISTURBING ABOUT A WEEK AGO when all my electronic devices got flooded with outraged emails and texts decrying that, in an unprecedented maneuver, the Rosewood Miramar expansion had been yanked from the Montecito Planning Commission’s purview and would instead be decided upon by Santa Barbara County, unless, as I was initially told, individuals wanted to send written comments to the County Planning Commission (CPC).
According to Supervisor Das Williams, they stumbled upon County Code Section 2-25.2 that gives the County full authority over the approval of any development linked to affordable housing – the guise under which Mr. Caruso has come within inches of expanding his current footprint by 54,000 square feet, which would include luxury housing, more retail space, more parking, and yes, 26 affordable housing units – all of which will go to his employees. No judgment there. Just the facts.
Turns out Mr. Caruso and his team, or perhaps the County, after getting frustrated by a perceived inability to get the MPC to move quickly enough, managed to unearth a legal loophole that allowed them to bypass any formal Montecito oversight. That leaves Michael Cooney, a long-standing County Planning Commissioner, as the only Montecito resident to formally have an impact on the fate of this project.
I communicated with head of County Planning Lisa Plowman and the County CEO Mona Miyasato and expressed my concerns about approving such a consequential project without any formal input or recommendation by the Montecito community.
After some back and forth, and much of the same, I’m sure, with irate MPC members and other concerned Montecitans, and I assume many conversations within the County, I was informed on Monday, by Ms. Miyasato, that: “In short: we heard you, and we have been working over the last few days to figure out a better solution, one that gives the Montecito Planning Commission opportunities to hear the item, allows Montecito residents to voice their concern at the MPC, as well as County Planning Commission if they like, while still adhering to our Code, addressing the applicant’s request, and acknowledging state laws on streamlining affordable housing developments.
“The [County] Planning Commission will hear the item on October 9 as noticed, but not take action until a November 1 meeting, to allow the MPC to meet in between and make a recommendation on the proposal.”
Which I appreciate, even if I think that should have come from them, not as a result of much kicking and screaming from us.
Yes, the law is the law. And this would certainly not be the first time that a law had allowed for serious moral or ethical transgressions. The fact is, the County has the ability to do the right thing, which in this case, given the monumental and generational impact that the Miramar expansion will have on the Montecito community, is to give the MPC the opportunity to formally weigh in on this project,
It is my understanding that Caruso is entitled to five public hearings. The County has the power to allow the MPC to hold at least one of these five hearings, to examine and vote on the merits of this project with the lens of how it will impact Montecito. It can then advise the CPC on what they believe is the right choice based, at least in part, on the considerations of safety, health, and the wellbeing of Montecito residents and in the interest of protecting Montecito’s community plan. Just as the CPC took MPC’s recommendations on the 101 expansion project – which unlike the Miramar had impact far beyond just Montecito.
Further, after talking to many community members, some supportive of the expansion, some not, they all seem to agree on one thing: if the CPC should not approve this project, and it should get appealed to the County Board of Supervisors, Montecito deserves to have this come before the Board of Supervisors after the first of the year when Das Williams’ successor, soon-to-be First District Supervisor Roy Lee, has been seated. After all, it is Supervisor Lee who will be responsible for dealing with the fallout from this decision, one way or another, for years to come.
Mr. Caruso is clearly using the State’s mandate for more affordable housing as a mechanism to get the retail and luxury housing space he seeks to bring in more revenue – and who could blame him? Without this though, the expanded version of the Miramar would likely not have passed the first time around. So, this two-step dance is very clever. And understandably, people in this community have strong feelings about this project. And I think it’s important to say, for the record, I believe that if this community had to vote today on just the affordable housing piece of this plan, it would pass overwhelmingly.
They say the universe is constantly expanding. But should that hold true for the Miramar? Montecito must be given the opportunity to formally weigh in on the answer to this question.
You might also be interested in...
