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Santa Barbara County First District Supervisor Das Williams — Addressing The Housing Crisis

by Community Contributor • March 18, 2024 • Comments Off

Addressing The Housing Crisis

I want to provide you with an update on the County Housing Element Updateprocess.

In December, the Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to take the first step by adopting the Housing Element Update, which contains over 30 programs and policies designed to create more housing opportunities. Some of them include:

Work to develop a local preference program so that those who live and work here have first priority for new housing
Requiring affordable housing in new rental projects
Creating housing for farmworkers and other local employees
Increasing housing and emergency shelters for the homeless

The second step in the process is we must re-zone enough sites in the unincorporated areas of the County to accommodate the number of units we are legally required to produce.

County staff has worked tirelessly and quickly to prepare this plan and re-zone options, the adoption of which is vital to ensuring that we meet State law, so that we do not lose local Zoning and land use authority.

This housing crisis is tearing at the fabric of our community by pushing out our children, workforce, and seniors. When we select the right kind of housing projects – with affordability and community amenities – we can reduce the negative impacts of growth, like traffic and pollution.

You can participate in this process by attending one of the following public meetings:

Tuesday, March 19: Board Workshop on Potential Rezone Sites

Owners/agents for some of the potential rezone sites will present the Board with their visions for the development of housing and community amenities on their sites.

TENTATIVE: Late April or Early May, 2024:

Board of Supervisors Hearings on the Proposed Rezones to comply with State Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA). Hearing locations TBD.

Celebrating Women’s History Month Service Awards

Each year during Women’s History Month, the Board of Supervisors has the chance to recognize and honor women who advocate for women and recognize their achievements. This year I was honored to select Julia Mayerfrom Carpinteria. As a small business owner, philanthropist, volunteer, and mom, Julia is a pillar of the Carpinteria community. Having worked tirelessly to raise funds to complete the Carpinteria Skate Park, and working to protect our environment and open space, Julia exemplifies what it means to be a community steward.

Emergency Regional Train Service Work

As the County’s representative on LOSSAN, the regional rail corridor agency for the 351 miles of train tracks between San Luis Obispo and San Diego, I wanted to provide you an update on Pacific Surfliner service.

Following landslides due to recent storms, LOSSAN has been performing emergency work to protect the rail line in San Clemente.

Service Update

Morning and evening Pacific Surfliner service through San Clemente will resume starting March 6. Passengers traveling between Santa Barbara and San Diego can take continuous train service during the mornings and evenings.
Daytime services will remain paused to accommodate wall installation by construction crews. Bus connections between Irvine and Oceanside will continue to be available for trains 769, 770, 774, 777, 785, and 790 to provide passengers with connections around the closure during the day.

Latest Service Updates

Become a Climate Steward

The CEC Climate Stewards Certification Course is accepting registrations for the next cohort.

The CEC Climate Stewarts certi?cation program equips participants to play an active role in their community to advance rapid and equitable solutions to the climate crisis.

The nine-week course focuses on the work being done on California’s Central Coast to address and alleviate climate impacts, offering participants:

A deeper understanding of the psychology and science behind climate change
Tools and resources to forge greater community connections
Skills to effectively communicate about the climate crisis
Opportunities to join the movement

The next cohort starts April 17, 2024. Don’t miss out! Priority given to those who apply by April 5.

Learn More

Call for Proposals: Create Art for Downtown Santa Barbara

The County Office of Arts & Culture and the City of Santa Barbara are partnering to invite artists, creatives, and cultural organizations to submit proposals for an original design treatment for the public K-Rails (traffic barriers) that demarcate the beginning of Santa Barbara’s State Street Pedestrian Corridor at the intersection of State St. and Haley St.

This is a great opportunity to help create artwork that will celebrate our community and businesses, energize the area, and beautify the downtown Santa Barbara corridor.

The selected artist will receive an honorarium of $1,500. Proposals are due by Friday, April 5, 2024.

Learn More

Das Around Town

Das joins CenCalHealth CEO Marina Owen and County Public Health Director Mahammad Hammami at the Chesley Initiative’s educational event on Long Covid

Projected Board of Supervisors Calendar

The items below are projected to be placed on a Board of Supervisors agenda in next month and are subject to change. Therefore, these are draft and remain so until the final agenda is created and posted on the Thursday preceding a Board of Supervisors’ meeting.

For information on a particular anticipated item, please contact the department noted. For any other questions regarding the Board of Supervisors’ agendas, please contact the Clerk of the Board Office at (805)568-2240.