Author Archives: Jaime Shaw

Give Input on the City’s New Zoning Ordinance

Zoning is important to a City. It controls where and how development occurs through regulations such as building setbacks, height, and lot size. It helps define how properties are used, what new buildings look like, and how much development can occur in our community. It protects recreational areas and allows for more open spaces in the neighborhood. The City has released a draft of its New Zoning Ordinance (NZO) and wants feedback from the community. Attend a Planning Commission workshop at City Hall (130 Cremona Drive, Suite B) to learn more, and view the NZO at www.goletazoning.com.

Workshop Dates:

  • Wednesday, March 6, 2019, 6:00 pm
    • Topic: Review Authorities and Permit Procedures Part 1
  • Tuesday, March 12, 2019, 6:00 pm
    • Topic: Permit Procedures Part II
  • Thursday, March 21, 6:00 pm
    • Topic: Open Space, Height, Floor Area, Fences and Hedges, Outdoor Storage, and ESHA
  • Monday, April 8, 2019, 6:00 pm
    • Topic: RV Parking, Parking Reductions, Signs, and Lighting
  • Thursday, April 11, 2019, 6:00 pm
    • Topic: Housing, Community Assembly, Mobile Vendors, Accessory Uses, and Energy
  • Thursday, April 18, 2019, 6:00 pm
    • Topic: Remaining Issues and General Feedback
  • Joint City Council / Planning Commission Workshop: Tuesday, May 7, 2019, 6:00 pm
    • Topic: NZO Finalization and Adoption Process

For the latest updates on the New Zoning Ordinance, sign up here.

Know Where NOT to Park for Deltopia

Isla Vista’s Deltopia event is expected to take place on Saturday, April 6, 2019. The City will continue its temporary parking restrictions program as it has done in the past for both Deltopia and Halloween. In an effort to minimize the impacts of Deltopia on Goleta residents, the City implements parking restrictions in the areas most affected: Hollister Avenue to the southern City limit (Whittier Drive), from Cannon Green Drive (including the cul-de-sac streets on the west side of Cannon Green Drive) to Storke Road. Those who live in the affected areas will receive two parking permits in the mail by March 21. Residents are encouraged to park in their garages or driveways as well, where no permit is needed.

Residents with valid permits will be able to park on the streets in this area from 7:00 p.m. on Friday, April 5th to 7:00 a.m. Saturday, April 6th and 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 6th to 7:00 a.m. Sunday, April 7th. (Should Deltopia move to the following weekend, the restrictions will be in place from 7:00 p.m. on Friday, April 12th to 7:00 a.m. Saturday, April 13th and 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 13th to 7:00 a.m. Sunday, April 14th.) Vehicles without permits will be cited and towed at the owner’s expense.

A map and FAQs can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/goletatempparking.

Ellwood Mesa Trails Reopened

The City of Goleta is pleased to announce the reopening of trails on Ellwood Mesa in consultation with the California Coastal Commission. Users are encouraged to use caution on trails and should be aware that many of the trees are drought-stressed and in danger of falling. Users enter at their own risk. A map is available here. The City will be doing maintenance along the trails in March and a few trails may be temporarily closed.

City staff is also working with Coastal Conservancy staff for agreement on the disbursement of the $3.9 million allocated in the 2017-19 State budget for restoration of the Ellwood eucalyptus groves. The City Council is expected to take action on the Monarch Butterfly Habitat Management Plan and environmental document at a Council meeting later this spring.

For more information, please visit the City’s project pages on the Ellwood Mesa and the Monarch Habitat Management Plan.

Celebrate with us on March 30!

On Saturday, March 30, the City of Goleta will be having an opening celebration for our newest park – the Jonny D. Wallis Neighborhood Park! We know residents have been waiting a long time for this, so we have a special day planned. Join us from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. for activity demonstrations (see schedule below), food, fun and more. The new four acre-park is located at 170 S. Kellogg Avenue (corner of Hollister and Kellogg Avenues). You can learn more about the park and watch the construction progress here. This is a park for all ages, amenities include a skate plaza, multi-purpose field, basketball court, handball court, concrete ping-pong tables, bocce ball court, pickleball court, Bankshot basketball court (the first of its kind on the west coast!), walking path, picnic areas and fitness nodes. We are excited to share this park with the community and hope to see you on March 30!

Schedule of Events:

  • 10:00 a.m. – Pickleball Demo
  • 10:30 a.m. – Bankshot Demo
  • 11:00 a.m. – Ribbon Cutting
  • 11:30 a.m. – Tour of Park
  • 12:00 p.m. – Fitness Nodes Demo
  • 12:30 p.m. – Skateboard Demo followed by Instructional Support
  • 1:00 p.m. – Bocce Ball Demo
  • 1:30 p.m. – Tennis Court Net Set-Up

Learn More About Goleta – Community State of the City on April 4

Our third annual Community State of the City is on Thursday, April 4 at 6:00 p.m. in the auditorium of the Goleta Valley Community Center (5679 Hollister Avenue). Everyone is invited to attend this free event. Spanish translation is provided. This is an opportunity for you to hear from Mayor Paula Perotte and City Manager Michelle Greene on topics important to you, followed by a Q&A. We hope you can attend in person, but if you are unable, the event will be rebroadcast on Goleta TV (channel 19/104.148) and will also be posted on the City’s website at www.cityofgoleta.org. A broadcast schedule will be available after the event. 

The 12th Annual State of the City hosted by the Goleta Chamber of Commerce is on Tuesday, April 9 from 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara. Click here for more information and to purchase your ticket.  

Fire is Everyone’s Fight – Electrical Fires

There are close to 45,000 home electrical fires each year. Most occur between midnight and 8:00 a.m. and peak months are November – March. Three out of five home electrical fires involve lighting equipment or home electrical wiring. Ways to avoid electrical fires include: plug only one heat-producing appliance directly into a wall outlet at a time and never use an extension cord with a heat-producing appliance. Heat-producing appliances include coffee makers, space heaters and microwaves.

There are additional ways to prevent portable space heater fires. Place them on a solid, flat surface and keep them a minimum of three feet from anything that can burn. Always check your space heater for cracked or damaged cords and plugs.

Learn more about fire prevention from the U.S. Fire Administration at www.usfa.fema.gov/prevention.

Goleta Continues to Go Green!

The Green Business Program of Santa Barbara County (GBPSBC) will be hosting its annual luncheon to honor over two dozen green businesses that were certified and re-certified this past year on Wednesday, March 13, 2019. The luncheon will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Hotel Corque, located at 400 Alisal Road in Solvang.

Among those to be recognized at the luncheon is the City of Goleta, which was re-certified this past year as a Green Business by the GBPSBC. The City of Goleta is proud to renew and strengthen its commitment to sustainability by implementing environmentally friendly practices throughout the organization. In addition to the recertification of our city, the Goleta Sanitary District, Sweet Cheeks, Brighten Solar Co., and AC4 Fitness in Goleta were all certified as green businesses within the past year.

The keynote speaker for the event will be Seth Streeter, the Founder and CEO of Mission Wealth and of Sustainablefuture.org.  Sustainablefuture.org is an impact-making organization designed to align and empower Santa Barbara County to become a leading sustainable region for the world to follow. The Sustainablefuture.org platform educates and supports community members in making environmentally friendly behavior changes, tallying positive individual and team impacts on the environment.  For more information on SustainableFuture.org, please visit their website at www.Sustainablefuture.org.

For the past 10 years, the GBPSBC public/private partnership program has helped over 100 local businesses and organizations save money and improve their environmental impacts through simple, yet effective green strategies. Currently, businesses in the following sectors are eligible to apply for certification:  general office/retail stores, restaurants, lodging establishments, automotive shops, multi-family residential complexes, breweries and small manufacturers.  Other sectors will be added in the future based on available resources, demand, and community interest.

To obtain more information about the GBPSBC and to RSVP for the Luncheon, please visit the GBPSBC website at www.GreenBizSBC.org. Want to find more green businesses in Goleta? Click here.

2019 Brings New Traffic Safety Laws to California

On January 1, 2019, California enacted several new laws geared toward traffic safety and vehicle equipment. Here is a sampling of the new laws that went into effect with the new year.

  • License plates (AB516): Paper plates with just a dealership’s name on it will be a thing of the past. This new law requires new and used car dealerships to affix temporary license plates to a vehicle before it is driven off the lot if it does not already have DMV issued plates.
  • Bicycle Hit & Run (AB1755): This law extends the felony hit-and-run law to bicyclists on bike paths. Any cyclist involved in a collision is required to stop at the scene of an accident.
  • Loud Mufflers (AB1824): Previously, citations for vehicles and motorcycles with modified or excessively loud exhaust or muffler systems could receive a “fix-it” ticket and pay a reduced penalty if they corrected the problem. This law now requires a fine be paid for the violation.
  • Passing Garbage Trucks (AB2115): This law now requires motorists to pull into an adjacent lane when passing or approaching a garbage truck with amber lights flashing. If there is no adjacent lane, the driver must slow to a “safe and reasonable speed”.
  • Kids and Helmets (AB3077): This law now provides law enforcement with the ability to issue a “fix-it” ticket to minors who are riding a bicycle, skateboard or roller skates without a helmet. The violation can be correctable if the minor completes a safety course and obtains a helmet within 120 days of receiving the ticket.

“Ocean Country” at the Goleta Valley Library

The Goleta Valley Library has received a number of grants, including the Book to Action grant. The Library is preparing a number of programs around Liz Cunningham’s book, “Ocean Country.” After a near-drowning experience, Ms. Cunningham decided to travel the world to view different areas’ efforts to rehabilitate our endangered oceans. This led to her writing her book, “Ocean Country,” which is poetic, stirring, and above all hopeful. Some of the activities the Library will host include a community-wide book discussion, children’s programming based on ocean crafts, a presentation by talented underwater photographer Richard Salas, a visit from the author herself, and to celebrate International Ocean Day, a family beach clean-up day at Haskell’s Beach. More details on the activities will be available soon at www.GoletaValleyLibrary.org.

Get all the latest news from the Library by signing up for their e-newsletter, Goleta Valley Library’s Reading Corner, here. You can also follow the Library on Facebook.

Historic Preservation Update

The City of Goleta has been working with a consultant team lead by Historic Resources Group to create a Historic Preservation Ordinance. The first step in this process has been the creation of a comprehensive Historic Context Statement to place local resources in the appropriate historic, social, cultural, archaeological, and architectural context. A historic context is not intended to be a comprehensive history of the City of Goleta but rather highlight trends and patterns. After several public workshops and hearings that started in 2017, the Planning Commission accepted the revised context statement on January 28, 2019. This document will be presented to the City Council shortly. Once the revised context statement is accepted by the City Council, then the work on the eligibility criteria, identification of significant historic resources and development of regulations will commence. The revised context statement is available at  www.HistoricGoleta.org. To be notified by email or text message about future public workshops/meetings and updates on this topic, sign up here.