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NEWSLETTERS: February 15, 2007
We assume by now that everyone has heard that the Caruso group from Los Angeles has bought the Miramar hotel. This is great news for the immediate neighbors of the hotel and equally great news both for Montecito and the County at large since tax revenues from this development promise to be very substantial. Additionally, those of us who used to put our friends up under the old blue roofs should finally have that opportunity once again – and none too soon. This time, we believe the planning environment will be both receptive and efficient as they review Miramar plans. No one wants to repeat the debacles of the past. The receptivity is clearly the result of the concerns expressed by VOM and the entire Montecito community about the recent failures of the Montecito Planning process to serve our best interests. At a recent lunch with Mr. Caruso and his staff hosted by VOM, he said he was looking forward to our input. VOM responded by saying that the public process was in place and that we didn’t want any special place at the table of either input or influence. We just wanted the process to work for him. As most of you know VOM has proposed the formation of an INDEPENDENT Blue Ribbon Panel charged with looking at how the planning process in Montecito works with an eye toward simplification, specificity, and responsibility. If such a panel had ideas that could help remodel the system so that it is more accountable to the citizenry it serves, then they would create an “action agenda” for our First District Supervisor, Salud Carbajal, to review and present to the entire Board of Supervisors for an up or down. The good news is that Supervisor Carbajal has taken the first step toward such a review panel. He has asked Michael Cooney, chairman of the County Planning Commission, to take a look at the possibility of forming this panel. Supervisor Carbajal has asked Mr. Cooney to make recommendations both about the validity of the panel idea and what subjects it would undertake to review. After Mr. Cooney finishes his research he will forward his conclusions to Supervisor Carbajal who will then decide whether or not to form the blue ribbon panel. At this time, all we can say is that we are optimistic and that that we appreciate Supervisor Carbajal’s willingness to investigate the issues. We call this progress and are very cautiously excited. Finally, as some of you may know, the county planning department has required people whose developments encroached on public land to have the Montecito Association “check off” on such encroachments. At the request of VOM, County Counsel has clearly re-affirmed that no private group may “sign off” on encroachment permits. That’s a government job, not a private sector job. And VOM is going to continue to make sure that this “cross-over” activity doesn’t happen anymore. This was an important step toward ensuring equality among all private parties seeking the opportunity to comment on the planning process in Montecito. Our website is “voicesofmontecito.com”, and we look forward to your comments and stories. If you just want to talk, send us an e-mail and one of us will get back to you right away. We appreciate the wide-ranging support we have received from the community.
January 29, 2007
This is our first newsletter and we hope that you find it informative. We will be publishing these newsletters periodically in order to bring our members up-to-date with our progress toward our MISSION and to clarify and expound upon our policies, commitments, and beliefs. First of all, our Mission, which is to ensure a fair, expeditious, legal and unbiased planning and development process in Montecito that recognizes the special character of the community, remains sound and true. We are dedicated to establishing a democratic planning process in Montecito and have worked hard to clarify our goals to the community and with the Board of Supervisors, particularly our 1st district supervisor, Salud Carbajal. Our message has been well received by most willing to take the time to listen. We believe in broad community outreach and are doing everything we can to spread our message. We now have a website which is operational, although still under further development; we have published some advertisements; interviewed with various members of the local press including 1280 radio; started this newsletter; spoken at the Board of Supervisors meetings; written letters to the editor, spoken to friends and attended meeting upon meeting looking for support and explaining our agenda. However, no matter how much outreach we do, it is never enough. New members are signing up daily but we can never have too many members. The vote is still the most powerful tool in a democracy. If you have friends who share our goals, please introduce them to us. It would be a great help. We have also discovered that our Mission has been mis-understood by some in Montecito and we would like to take this opportunity to clarify our position on two important topics: 1. We wholeheartedly support the Montecito General Plan. We have no interest in replacing it or modifying it. It has proved to be an accurate reflection of the democratic majority of Montecitans and we have no interest in changing that. 2. We believe the Montecito Association has done some wonderful things to preserve the “semi-rural” character of Montecito. We do not, as some people are saying, favor their demise. Many of our members are also members of the MA. We support their existence and particularly support their right and privilege as a partner in our democratic processes to comment on those processes. We do think the MA has too much control over the current land use approval process, but we are also convinced that there are more compelling issues before us. So, three months after Voices of Montecito was created, we believe that the larger community is ready and willing to have some real discourse about how to improve the planning process in Montecito. As we’ve said before, if you think that the process is as good as it can be, then there’s nothing to talk about. But, if you believe that the current process can be too long, too costly, too arbitrary or too complicated and can be improved, then we can see no reason not to support an independent review of the planning process in Montecito. VOM has proposed just that: that a truly independent Blue Ribbon Panel be formed to look at the planning process in Montecito. We would like this panel to be charged with creating an action agenda which Supervisor Carbajal can present to the Board of Supervisors for an up or down vote. We think this process will take at most 6 months and should necessarily involve public testimony from people who live in Montecito and have gone through the planning process. We are, of course, ready to engage in a dialogue about the exact structure of the panel along with the Montecito Association and any other interested community groups and would ask Supervisor Carbajal to use his excellent leadership skills to facilitate this discussion. Finally, if you, or any of your friends, have had an experience, good or bad, with the Montecito planning process that affected your approval, changed the costs, or raised arbitrary issues, please share your story with us by posting it on our website, www.voicesofmontecito.com. We would love to exchange ideas with anyone interested in the future of Montecito planning. You can contact us through our website and we will get right back to you. Thanks in advance for your support. We look forward to a healthier planning process in Montecito.
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Copyright (c) 2007 by The Voices Of Montecito created by SBCAL Consulting, Inc. |