Christina McDermott

A new pilot program put forward by 2nd District Supervisor Laura Capps would allow the county to proactively inspect rental units in Isla Vista to ensure they are safe and provide reports to the Board of Supervisors on the program's effectiveness. | Credit: Courtesy Laura Capps's Office The Santa Barbara Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a motion on Tuesday that sends the proposed Isla Vista Rental Housing Inspection Pilot Program to its next steps, directing staff to create a plan for the program. The pilot program, put forward by 2nd District Supervisor Laura Capps, would allow the county to proactively inspect rental units to ensure they are safe and provide reports to the Board of Supervisors on the program's effectiveness. “Even if you're a young tenant, young adult, or low income, you still deserve basic rights, basically cleanliness, basic safety, from your landlord,” Capps told the Independent in an interview. Supervisor Laura Capps said that the goal of the program is to make sure all rentals in Isla Vista are safe and up-to-code. She said she and her office observed and heard reports of unsafe living conditions including spaces with mold, insects and rodents, exposed electrical wiring, faulty plumbing, unsafe balconies, lack of heat, and more. In Isla Vista, 87 percent of the population rents, and 96 percent of the population is college-aged, many of whom are living on their own for the first time. Currently, tenants can file a complaint online, via phone, or in-person with Santa Barbara County if they find their living conditions are unsafe. A building inspector will then evaluate the apartment or home for safety violations and determine whether the property owner is in-compliance with standards. Supervisor Capps said that many students she's spoken to are initially unaware of their rights as tenants. “They by-and-large don't think they can [file a complaint], or they're intimidated. They think they might get evicted. It all plays into the reality that they're being taken advantage of,” she said. Capps further stated that rents can be exorbitant; she describes visiting a five-bedroom unit on Del Playa Drive that rented for $38,000 a month with a $60,000 security deposit. At the Board of Supervisors meeting, Supervisors Joan Hartmann and Bob Nelson agreed with Supervisor Capps on the necessity of ensuring safe living conditions in I.V. “Having represented Isla Vista for a period of time, I couldn't agree more,” said 3rd District Supervisor Hartmann. “There are some good landlords, but it's kind of a predatory environment [that] take[s] advantage of students.” Fourth District Supervisor Nelson said that he had visited Isla Vista at Supervisor Capps's invitation and seen the housing conditions, which “opened his eyes” to the issue of rental units in disrepair. He also stated he had reached out to the local apartment association and spoke to local owners to inform them of the program and encourage them to become stakeholders in it. The $600,000 allocated to fund the program comes from the $3.7 million settlement from UCSB, paid to the county for failing to comply with its 2010 Long Range Development Plan. The plan outlined how the university would have supported its growing student population, including providing housing. In March 2024, as part of the settlement, UCSB agreed to build 3,500 new student beds and up to 1,874 new units for faculty and staff. It also paid the $3.7 million for capital improvement projects to the Isla Vista neighborhood. The rental pilot program falls under this label. Supervisors Capps said that there is no plan to extend this program outside of Isla Vista. She said county staff are constructing the framework for the program, with the approval from the Board of Supervisors needed for that framework. Sun, Jan 19 2:00 PM Santa Barbara Sun, Jan 19 2:30 PM Lompoc Sun, Jan 19 7:25 PM Santa Barbara Fri, Jan 17 7:00 PM Santa Barbara Fri, Jan 17 7:00 PM Santa Barbara Fri, Jan 17 7:30 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Jan 18 10:00 AM Carpineria Sat, Jan 18 12:00 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Jan 18 12:00 PM Santa Barbara Sun, Jan 19 2:00 PM Santa Barbara Sun, Jan 19 2:30 PM Lompoc Sun, Jan 19 7:25 PM Santa Barbara Fri, Jan 17 7:00 PM Santa Barbara Fri, Jan 17 7:00 PM Santa Barbara Fri, Jan 17 7:30 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Jan 18 10:00 AM Carpineria Sat, Jan 18 12:00 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Jan 18 12:00 PM Santa Barbara Sun, Jan 19 2:00 PM Santa Barbara Sun, Jan 19 2:30 PM Lompoc Sun, Jan 19 7:25 PM Santa Barbara

Single-family homes are under construction as part of the Cardinal Group's Ocean Meadows Development. The homes are near UCSB's Sierra Madre Student Housing. | Credit: Leslie Dinaberg Construction is underway at the site of the former Ocean Meadows golf course in Goleta. The new Ocean Meadows housing complex will include 32 single-family homes and six condominiums. The development team, a property management company named Cardinal Group, broke ground last fall, nearly four years after receiving approval from the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors. Located near UC Santa Barbara's Sierra Madre Student Housing, the development sits on a small portion of the former Ocean Meadows golf course. The conservation nonprofit Trust for Public Land purchased most of the land in 2013 and donated it to UCSB. That portion is now the North Campus Open Space, a protected estuary. The other two lots – the site of the current development – were retained by the golf course owner at the time of initial sale, with the intent to develop it. The developers said the sale of these lots was finalized in October 2023. The single-family homes, which are between 2,560 square feet and 2,659 square feet, are two stories in height. Nine will contain accessory dwelling units with kitchenettes. Cardinal Group expects to rent these homes at market-rate. The developers plan to rent the condos as low-income housing. The condominiums, which are expected to be 875 square feet and two-bedroom each, will be available for those making 60 percent of the area's medium income. In 2024, the county classified its medium family income as $119,100 yearly. The condos' affordable housing status qualifies the developers for a density bonus, as per California's density bonus law, which allows developers to increase the density of their projects if they provide affordable housing units. The project, which does not include but is near to environmentally sensitive habitat, has a mitigated negative declaration, or a statement that indicates it will not cause environmental harm. The evaluation for this declaration is conducted and certified by the county.

UC Santa Barbara’s Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration and the Ojai Raptor Center release the pint-size owl at UCSB’s North Campus Open Space.

Examples of Mediterranean and Craftsman architectural styles that would fit the city's new Objective Design and Development Standards | Courtesy City of S.B. The Santa Barbara City Council unanimously approved a new ordinance providing objective design standards for city developments on Tuesday. The change comes as state law mandates that housing projects be subject to only objective design standards, which include measurable characteristics. “Increasingly we're seeing the state tell us you can't use design guidelines any more. You have to use measurable, objective standards when you're looking at multi-unit residential [developments], ” said Rosie Dyste, a city project planner . Called the Objective Development and Design Standards , or ODDs, this set of standards would be available for projects in the areas of the city zoned for multifamily residences, located primarily in the city's downtown, its Westside and Eastside neighborhoods, and in parts of upper State Street. Neighborhoods zoned for single-family units, as well as mobile home parks and accessory dwelling units and existing property additions, are not eligible to use ODDs. Developers with projects here could either choose to adhere to these design standards, which would “streamline” the projects and allow approval in one hearing, or could adhere toward the city's already-in-place guidelines, which would allow them to use the current review process. Per the city charter, ODDs projects would still go through design review. An example of objective standards would be to quantify how far a window should be “recessed,” or how far away their pane should be from the wall they are built into. A subjective guideline may just instruct windows to be recessed. The design standards include three style groups — Mediterranean, Craftsman, and Contemporary — with two variations of the style in each group. Different parts of the city have restrictions on what style developers can build in. For example, in much of downtown, only buildings in the Mediterranean style are permitted. In the historically industrial Funk Zone, however, all styles are permitted including an “Industrial Sub Style” unique to this part of the city. [Click to enlarge] A map showing where different building “styles” will be permitted for builders using ODDs, including revisions from the October 2024 map. | Credit: Courtesy City of Santa Barbara. Dyste said that one of the goals of the ODDs is predictability, so that developers know what to expect and what they need to achieve in their projects. The city received a $300,000 grant from the state in 2021 to fund the work needed to create objective standards. Santa Barbara then hired Opticos Design Inc., a firm of urban designers and architects, who worked with city staff to create the plan. A group of representatives from the Architectural Board of Review, the Historic Landmarks Commission, the Planning Commission, and the American Institute of Architects advised staff through the process. At the meeting, Dyste, along with Tony Perez, the director of form-based coding at Opticos, said that they had developed the existing proposed standards with feedback from developers, staff members and the public. The standards are meant to be a “living document,” said Elias Isaacson, the city's community development director, at the meeting. “We're committing to reevaluating our program over the course of the next two years and coming back with amendments based off the feedback we're getting from applicants and other stakeholders in the community about the usability and effectiveness of this program,” he said. Public comment broadly supported the standards. At the meeting, Councilmember Mike Jordan said that while he would approve the standards, he thinks they are a “missed opportunity” to center adding more housing to the community. “If you would have asked me three years ago what I wanted to see going through this process, we would have seen a balanced equation that clearly worked toward generating more multifamily housing on the ground than historically we have through the subjective process,” he said. He said that personally, he felt the city could accomplish both maintaining the “look and feel” of Santa Barbara while also improving the process of evaluating working projects generating new housing units. Councilmember Eric Friedman said one of his remaining questions was whether more regulations would deter developers or help streamline the process. “One of the primary factors in development of new housing is the cost. There's the land cost, but then there's the city process itself. That's where we get most of the complaints,” Friedman said. He later added that while the staff evaluates the program in the coming years, he would like to see if this process is “exacerbating that situation or making it better because there are clear standards that people are going through.” The council adopted the ODDs with minor revisions, specifically changing the articulation table to start at 60 feet and including building setback requirements specifically in the plan. Along with this ordinance, they made amendments to the existing objective standards (Title 30), so that the new standards and existing standards coalesce. The ordinance will return to the City Council for adoption on February 25. Sat, Feb 08 3:00 PM SANTA BARBARA Tue, Feb 11 All day Santa Barbara Thu, Feb 06 6:00 PM Santa Barbara Fri, Feb 07 7:30 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Feb 08 10:00 AM Santa Barbara Sat, Feb 08 11:00 AM Santa Barbara Sat, Feb 08 12:30 PM Solvang Sat, Feb 08 3:00 PM SANTA BARBARA Tue, Feb 11 All day Santa Barbara Thu, Feb 06 6:00 PM Santa Barbara Fri, Feb 07 7:30 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Feb 08 10:00 AM Santa Barbara Sat, Feb 08 11:00 AM Santa Barbara Sat, Feb 08 12:30 PM Solvang Sat, Feb 08 3:00 PM SANTA BARBARA Tue, Feb 11 All day Santa Barbara

The city’s Housing Authority aims to complete the 48-unit development on La Cumbre Road by fall 2026.

Defunding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting would cut into local public radio stations’ budgets.

The 32-single family homes portion of the Ocean Meadows housing development. | Credit: Christina McDermott The gated Ocean Meadows housing development will cater to students. Called “The Cove,” the property, located near the Sierra Madre student housing complex in Goleta, will offer rent by the bed. Its website advertises student housing in Santa Barbara and includes popular spots in nearby Isla Vista to advertise its location. The Cove's website states that 10 to 12 students are able to fit in each home, and the homes are advertised as five-bedroom houses, some with accessory dwelling units (ADUs). The cheapest option currently costs $1,249 a month (reduced from its previous $1,479 a month) and does not include the cost of electricity or water. The Cove is not zoned as student housing, but rather a planned residential community. The Santa Barbara County Planning Commission approved The Cove's development as 32 single-family homes and nine ADUs at a hearing in December 2020. At that same hearing, the Theimer Group, real estate developers that were previously involved with the project, presented the homes as a good location for professors and professionals. The Theimer Group left the project in October 2023, before the Board of Supervisors passed the project's final tract map. Its current developer, the Cardinal Group, is a Denver-based real estate and development company with projects around the country, including The Loop in Isla Vista, which offers high-end apartments for students. According to the county, there is no specific code that limits the number of occupants in a single-family residence. The project is subject to density requirements in the county's Coastal Land Use Plan , with zoning normally limiting developers to 28 units total across the two properties. But the overall development includes six planned affordable condominium units on a separate lot, near Whittier Drive. As the development offers affordable housing, the developers benefit from a density bonus. That allows 38 units total. The Cardinal Group did not respond to requests for comment in time for this story.

The 16-unit project, a partnership between Ed St. George and Isla Vista Church, heads to the South County Board of Architectural Review.

Panelists spoke about recovery efforts, as well as what needs to be done to help recovery for the critically endangered fish.

Panelists with experience in homelessness services discuss prevention, resources, and the connection between homelessness and housing insecurity.