Ed St. George thinks of himself as a nice guy who provides badly needed rental housing for people on the South Coast.
He's received design awards for his rental projects. At one point, he even attempted to power one of his downtown rentals using only solar energy.
But Mr. St. George now finds himself caught in a web of controversy involving the city and neighborhood activists over the run-down, neglected property he owns on the corner of Salinas and Clifton streets on Santa Barbara's Eastside.
The furor focuses on the parcel he owns at 1340 Clifton St. The deteriorating 6,000-square-foot corner property has become an embarrassing eyesore for people who live, walk and drive on the Eastside