Public Weighs In On Venoco’s Oil Pipeline Project

By Sonia Fernandez, Noozhawk Staff Writer

The California State Lands Commission holds the first in a series of hearings on the project's environmental documents.

The California State Lands Commission held public hearings on Wednesday on the Draft Environmental Impact Report for Venoco’s lease expansion and pipeline project, as the oil company pushes for intensified drilling off the Ellwood coast.

The first in a series of hearings on the project’s environmental document, Wednesday’s hearings, at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., brought out criticism and support for the project, which would include 40 new wells from existing oil slots on Platform Holly, as well as a pipeline from the oil company’s Ellwood Onshore Facility to the All-American Pipeline tie-in 10 miles northwest of Goleta that would do away with the oil company’s existing barge operation.

Don't give up on Gaviota coast

In a recent column Andy Caldwell, the executive director of COLAB, postulates that the Gaviota Coast has been trashed, and we might as well finish the job. Campgrounds, a hotel, and a dump with an ocean view have all invaded the coast, to say nothing of the industrial oil facilities.

He suggests that we promote sprawl up the Gaviota Coast by ignoring our General Plan policies.

A little background about a proposed massive Gaviota Coast mansion will help you understand the tenuous nature of Caldwell's position.

Changing the City Map

Santa Barbara Wraps Up Talking, Looks Toward Doing

By Martha Sadler

Thursday, July 24, 2008

The final gathering for PlanSB saw less fighting than one might expect, though its undercurrents of tension will surely rise to the surface when push comes to shove and the City Planning Commission and City Council start hammering out the actual changes to Santa Barbara’s general plan. The city last undertook a massive reappraisal of its basic shape and direction — updating the land use and housing elements of its general plan — in 1989, and the result was Measure E, which limited commercial development to 3 million square feet, from a potential 100 million. Back then, it was slow-growth urban environmentalists squaring off against developers, and the environmentalists won.

Regional Board Files $8.5 Million Complaint Against Greka Energy

By John Mann

The company is accused of failing to comply with a cleanup and abatement order; a hearing will be held in Santa Barbara in October.

Assemblyman Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara, announced Tuesday that the California Regional Water Quality Control Board Central Coast Region has filed an $8.5 million complaint against Greka Energy for its failure to comply with a cleanup and abatement order issued Dec. 20, 2006.

Land-Use Approvals Next Up for Santa Barbara Ranch Project

By Sonia Fernandez, Noozhawk Staff Writer

Following a decision on the project's alternative design, the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission takes the next step toward development.

Having found the Santa Barbara Ranch Project‘s Final Environmental Impact Report to be adequate, and having chosen one of several design alternatives for the Gaviota coast property, the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission on Monday will start in on the first round of approvals the developer needs to get some homes on the ground.

“We’re pleased at the option they picked,” said Jim Youngson, representing developer Matt Osgood. “Matt Osgood’s gone through great effort in working with Rancho Dos Pueblos in carving out Alternative 1B.”

Will Offshore Drilling Help Ease Our Energy Crisis?

By Tam Hunt

Energy efficiency and conservation are better alternatives to increased oil exploration.

With oil prices topping records every week, the chorus for increasing offshore drilling is growing. Will it help?

Let’s first discuss what “help” means. If we mean help in terms of providing additional supply for domestic consumption, it may help a bit. But not much, as explained below. But if we mean help in terms of bringing down prices, we know that it won’t help at all. In fact, a recent study by the Energy Information Administration, the federal energy agency that tracks energy research and data, found that increased drilling offshore in California, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico would have an “insignificant” impact on oil prices by 2030!

Goleta Tax Won’t Endanger Measure A

Council Vows to Form Better Profit Split With County

By Ben Preston

Thursday, July 3, 2008

While slow-moving tedium usually defines City Council meetings, Goleta’s was abuzz with meaningful activity on Tuesday evening. As the smoke from the Gap Fire off West Camino Cielo Road hung above the mountains across from City Hall, decisions were made about issues Goletans have been watching anxiously. Not least on this list were two proposed measures for the November ballot — one to push a renegotiation of the revenue neutrality agreement with the county, and the other a half-cent sales tax measure for the City of Goleta that may very well have put the brakes on the county’s Measure A. If approved by voters this November, Measure A would replace the expiring Measure D, a major funding source for countywide road maintenance and improvements.

In order for the sales tax measure to be included on the ballot, four of the five councilmembers had to approve it, and councilmembers Roger Aceves and Jonny Wallis were opposed to it. “We all have to work to get Measure A passed. A lot of cities depend on it,” Aceves said, adding that the council had agreed to pull the proposed measure from the July 1 agenda by consensus.

On the Farm: Vanpool program helpful to all

By Kevin Merrill/Contributor

The warm summertime weather I was looking for in my last column arrived last week. Just what our vines need to play catch-up after a cooler-than-normal spring.

I was up around 5:15 in the morning to make coffee. After I got it started, I looked out at the faint glow of morning to see the light haze of fog hovering over the vines.

I looked down the canyon toward Highway 101, and there was our usual summertime fog bank lurking in the lower reaches of the hills and valleys north of Los Alamos.

In another 45 minutes, the canyon and vines in front of our home were completely engulfed in fog. By 7:30, it was all gone, and if you did not know any better, you would swear the fog was never there.

It is a tricky time for the folks who drive to work on the vineyard from Santa Maria. They never know what the road conditions will be, and I am always glad to see they all made it to work safe and sound.

There is a new program just getting off the ground to help the folks who drive out to our fields and farms to work every day in North County.

Maneuver by Goleta Could Endanger Measure A

A Taxing November

By Chris Meagher

Thursday, June 26, 2008

As the deadline approaches to get items placed on this November’s ballot, talk of filling the ballot with local tax measures has intensified. Too many taxes usually turn voters off, and with taxpayers already fatigued from two elections in 2008 — themselves containing tax measures — public officials might have a tough time getting this fall’s measures passed. “People obviously are not going to vote for a laundry list of taxes,” pointed out Joe Armendariz, executive director of the Santa Barbara County Taxpayer’s Association.