By the end of next month, the group studying the proposed split of Santa Barbara County may understand what it takes to run a leaner local government.
If voters opt to create a county north of the Gaviota tunnel in June 2006, the new Mission County would earn an estimated $52 million from property, sales and bed taxes. If its leaders wanted to provide services at the level currently offered in the county, it would cost $81 million annually -- giving the proposed county a yearly shortfall of $29 million.
The Mission County Formation Review Commission, the five-member panel studying the split, must determine if a new county is fiscally viable, and it must figure out a "fair, just and equitable" way to distribute the county's overall debt. Those two issues kept the commission in heated debate for about five hours Monday.
To best learn how to run a county with a slimmed-down budget, commission Secretary John Torell and two county analysts, Beth Owen and Greg Levin, will travel to Merced County this week to delve into the workings of a county of comparable size to the proposed Mission County. They'll meet with Merced's county administrator, budget director, probation chief, sheriff and human resources manager.
Sales of existing single-family homes decreased 0.1 percent in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.75 million units from 6.76 million units in September, NAR reported on Tuesday. Despite the slight decline, this pace was the fourth highest on record and 5.6 percent above the 6.39 million-unit pace in October 2003.
Home resale activity in the West declined 3.6 percent from September to an annual rate of 1.86 million units in October, but was 9.4 percent above October 2003. Existing-home sales also fell in the Northeast and Midwest, with sales declining 1.3 percent in the Northeast and 2.8 percent in the Midwest. The South was the only region to experience an increase in existing-home sales, which increased 3.7 percent in October to an annual rate of 2.77 million units.
Californians value their quality of life in the Golden State, but many say that the cost of housing is forcing them to seriously consider moving to another part of the state or away from California altogether, according to a recent survey by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC). Although 86 percent of renters in California hold onto the hope of being homeowners someday, only 18 percent believe it is very likely they will find a home they can afford. Additionally, three in four adults are concerned that increasing housing costs will prevent the younger generations in their families from one day buying a home in California.
The PPIC study also found that homeownership represents a profound dividing line between the "haves" and "have nots" in California. Approximately six in 10 California adults say they own their own home, and the likelihood of homeownership increases sharply with age, income, and education. A majority of whites (71%) and Asians (59%) own their homes, while a majority of Latinos (55%) and blacks (51%) are renters. Homeownership rates have serious implications for elections and politics in the state, as 75 percent of likely voters in the state's elections are homeowners. As a result, voters' preferences largely reflect the opinions of homeowners.
C.A.R. REPORTS MEDIAN HOME PRICE INCREASED 21.4 PERCENT IN OCTOBER
The median price of an existing, single-family detached home in California during October 2004 was $460,370, a 21.4 percent increase over the revised $379,120 median for October 2003, C.A.R. reported on Tuesday. The October 2004 median price decreased 0.7 percent compared with a revised $463,620 median price in September. "While the median price of a home continued to charge ahead in October compared with a year ago, sales moderated to a more sustainable pace, typical for this time of year," said C.A.R. President Jim Hamilton.
Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled 639,570 in October at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate, according to information collected by C.A.R. from more than 90 local REALTORŪ associations statewide. Statewide home resale activity increased 0.5 percent from the 636,690 sales pace recorded in October 2003. The statewide sales figure represents what the total number of homes sold during 2004 would be if sales maintained the October pace throughout the year. It is adjusted to account for seasonal factors that typically influence home sales.
"The inventory of homes for sale also increased to nearly a four-month supply, compared with about a two-month supply a year ago," Hamilton said. "This is giving buyers a greater number of options when looking for a home, and also is reflected in the time it's taking to list and sell a home, which has increased to 37 days -- its highest level since July 1999."
The California Coastal Commission has delivered a blow to a major housing proposal in Santa Barbara's "funk zone."
Developer Bill Wright had hoped that his plan to build 131 condos on the corners of Yanonali and Garden streets -- just blocks from the beach -- would be exempt from new rules requiring housing developments in the area to include commercial space.
But Mr. Wright will have to set aside commercial space on one of the pieces of land -- where he had intended to build 18 units at below-market rates for middle-income workers. The project includes a total of 53 affordable units.
Well it's the first Thanksgiving without mom, but so far we seem to be holding up. I spent the morning playing with the new Musician's Union Local 308 computer and now the troops are starting to gather. Laury's son and daughter-in-law from Orange County have arrived bringing their awesome children Jake and Merissa. Soon Laury's daughter, her friend and landlord Murry will arrive and we'll let the feasting begin. I hope all is well at your house.
Happy Blogging!
In the largest land-use judgment ever against Santa Barbara County, a Santa Maria jury on Monday awarded about $5.5 million to a farming company that was blocked from planting vegetables because the county designated 95 acres along Highway 1 as protected wetlands.
After a nearly three-week civil trial before a visiting Superior Court judge, jurors unanimously agreed that the wetlands designation and other decisions made several years ago by county planners preparing the Orcutt Community Plan had recklessly violated the rights of Adam Brothers Farming Inc. The jury assessed actual damages of $5.47 million collectively against the county Planning and Development Department, one of its paid consultants and three current or former employees who helped write the long-range planning document adopted by county supervisors in 1997.
Santa Barbara's "funk zone" is known for its quirky mix of artisans, workshops and businesses. But the area near the beach isn't the only place in town where eclecticism is on display.
Artists have banded together to put a little funk into East Haley Street, converting old restaurants and auto shops into ateliers for painters, photographers and even metal workers.
Seizing on bargain rents and empty spaces east of Laguna Street in what many consider a seedy part of town, they are making a place where creativity and industry collide.
"This is one of the only places in town left that still has the ability to be changed," said Tanner Goldbeck, 34, who paints, illustrates and does metal sculpture down an alley off East Haley Street.
As artists move in alongside auto mechanics and lumber shops, plumbing supply stores and Mexican restaurants, the result, some say, is unlike anything in town.
Despite strong opposition from some residents, county officials on Monday will consider requiring developers to earmark a larger portion of their projects for affordable housing -- or pay a fee for not doing so.
The Board of Supervisors is expected to vote on revisions to its Inclusionary Housing and In-Lieu Fee program, which would require residential developers to set aside as much as 30 percent of new homes for families making $130,000 or less. Developers now reserve 5 to 20 percent of projects for lower-income households.
The proposal would also increase the in-lieu fees for builders who don't include the affordable homes. The fees vary by area, but in Montecito they would jump from $400,000 to $1.9 million for a 10-unit development.
Although housing officials note the proposed changes involve no rezoning, a group of residents in the unincorporated Goleta Valley opposes the measure, saying it could lead to further development. Indeed, the Coalition for Sensible Planning's steadfast opposition -- which they say is based on mistrust for the county -- has complicated the future of what has become a highly contested proposal.
The plan to develop Buellton's Flying Flags RV Park into homes has hit a major roadblock at the Planning Commission, which recommended the city deny a proposal to build 200 homes on the site.
At a Thursday night meeting, the commission voted 2-0, with one abstention, to reject the project in its current form.
Buellton's general plan calls for commercial development, not housing, along Avenue of the Flags and Highway 246, where the 26-acre RV park is located. The plan is in the process of being updated.
The project would also require that the city annex 11 acres adjacent to the park to meet open-space requirements.
Buellton Planning Director Ray Severn said that not only is the project inconsistent with the general plan, but the annexation issue must be dealt with by the City Council.
Today's Casa Article is all about the Saumsung Yep YP-T5. Hardly bigger than a lipstick case, the Samsung Yepp YP-T5 digital audio player has it all. It has a readable screen with up to 256 MB capacity, an FM radio tuner with a microphone for recording as well as line-in recording, and a number of sound-enhancement modes. It measures .9 by .9 by 2.1 inches and weighs only 1.3 ounces with the batter installed.
For more please click on Havint it All Here!
Developer Bill Levy has asked for a one-year extension to build his $170 million Ritz-Carlton condominium development near the waterfront, fueling speculation about the future of the high-profile project.
The extension request, the second for Mr. Levy's project, concerns some city officials and critics who wonder what's causing the delay and whether the project will ever see the light of day.
The Planning Commission will take up the matter next month.
Mr. Levy said the request for more time doesn't mean the project is in jeopardy.
Under general principles of corporate law, a real estate corporation is generally liable for acts of its salespersons but a supervisor generally is not personally liable for the acts of a salesperson. However, in a case that is out of step with general corporate law, the Ninth Circuit held that the designated broker for a real estate corporation could have personal liability for the negligent supervision of his agent, and under agency laws, the court held that a broker could have personal liability as principal for the actions of his agent, a salesperson. The court based this holding on California real estate licensing law which places the responsibility for supervision of salespersons on a specific real estate broker who is the officer for the real estate corporation.
The Ninth Circuit also found sufficient justification to apply the "alter ego" theory and pierce the corporate shield to impose liability on the individual owner/broker. In the case of Holley v. Crank, the court considered several facts to be relevant: the broker was the sole shareholder of the corporation, he was the company's president and designated officer/broker, it was very thinly capitalized, and he failed to treat the corporation as a distinct entity in his tax return.
C.A.R. strongly disagrees with the holding that disregards the corporate structure and traditional application of corporate and agency principles and is concerned about the long-term ramifications of personal liability on brokers that have in good faith tried to comply with the fair housing laws and have trained their agents to do so.
An architect known for his environmentally sensitive designs wants to build condominiums on semi-rural property he owns just outside Carpinteria.
Scott Ellinwood, chairman of the Carpinteria Architectural Review Board and a designer of "green" buildings for 30 years, presented plans for a 34-unit project during a joint meeting of the Carpinteria City Council and Planning Commission on Monday evening.
Mr. Ellinwood raised his family in a restored 1904 farmhouse at 1300 and 1326 Cravens Lane, where it intersects Via Real. His proposal includes retaining the farmhouse and much of the open space --s a pond, meadow and stands of trees on the site that covers almost 4 acres -- while adding eight new three-story buildings with a mix of one- and three-bedroom units
When the state told local officials to earmark more land for affordable housing, community members revolted. Many residents said higher-density developments would diminish their quality of life and increase traffic, pollution and crime -- concerns others disparaged as NIMBY, or "Not In My Back Yard."
The opponents called on officials to reject a law that requires them to plan new housing based on statewide growth and income projections. In unincorporated Santa Barbara County, the figure comes to 6,064 new units for years 2003 through 2008.
The scenario in Santa Barbara County is similar to the predicament of many jurisdictions across the state and nation, where evaporating open space has made it more difficult to build new homes, especially for people with lower incomes.
Saddled with enormous pension obligations and the loan repayments on buildings like the district attorney's office and the Betteravia Government Center, Santa Barbara County is about $194 million in debt.
That's not unusual for a county this size, and it wouldn't normally get much notice. But with a movement afoot to split the county in half, a panel of five men and women are wrestling with a critical issue: If the county splits in two, what happens to that debt?
Answering that weighty question falls to the Mission County Formation Review Commission, the group responsible for the solution.
As it determines whether the proposed Mission County can be fiscally viable, the commission must also determine a "fair, just and equitable" distribution of debt between north and south.
A collision that left one man dead in the Goleta Valley and an overturned big rig in Summerland combined to close northbound lanes of Highway 101 for hours Friday morning.
The two accidents brought the morning rush hour to a standstill, giving commuters a dose of the traffic woes they can expect during the upcoming Highway 101 revamp.
An unidentified 37-year-old Santa Fe, N. M., man was killed near Turnpike Avenue when the 1985 Cadillac El Dorado in which he was a passenger rolled over several times in a 6:30 a.m. crash that involved two cars. Officials said the 37-year-old driver of the Cadillac, Radana Slaba of Santa Barbara, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and vehicular manslaughter.
Officials say Ms. Slaba, who suffered cuts and was taken to Cottage Hospital, was traveling in the fast lane at a high rate of speed, then suddenly veered sharply to the right, striking a 2001 Ford Taurus driven by Marie Puchi, 61, of Ventura.
Today's Casa Article is all about little devices we can use to protect our homes. Security cameras have been around for a while but with the move to wireless networks it's become really easy to add a camera to your system. The first thing I found was that there's no widespread agreement on what a security camera should come with or even what it should do.
For more on Looking in on the Homefront please click here!
Sales of existing condominiums and cooperatives were at the second highest pace on record during the third quarter, according to a recent NAR report. While existing condo and co-up sales decreased 2.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 990,000 units, sales were 5.2 percent above the 941,000-unit level of sales activity in third quarter 2003. The median existing condo price was $197,000 in the third quarter, 18.0 percent higher than the same quarter in 2003. By comparison, the median-priced existing single-family home was $188,500 in the third quarter, up 7.7 percent from a year ago.
In the West, existing condo and co-op sales declined 3.7 percent from second quarter to an annual rate of 258,000 units in the third quarter, but sales were 3.2 percent higher than one year ago. The median price in the West was $244,400, up 20.5 percent from the third quarter of 2003.
In a split vote, the Santa Barbara City Council denied an appeal of a Mesa homeowner who wanted to remove a Mexican fan palm tree from the public parkway in front of his house.
Kevin Cunningham argued Tuesday that the tree was leaning and posed a safety threat to his house, but the city's tree experts and arborist concluded the tree was young and in no danger of falling. "This is a healthy tree," city arborist David Gress said. "The tree is well rooted."
Council members Helene Schneider, Dan Secord and Das Williams voted to save the tree, while Mayor Marty Blum and Councilwoman Iya Falcone voted to cut it down, both saying it looked unsafe.
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
Bacara Resort & Spa is embroiled in a huge civil lawsuit that has already tarnished the luxury hideaway's five stars and could jeopardize the resort's future, according to attorneys for the owners.
Underneath its impeccable glossy surface, the complex is rotting, cracking and crumbling away, the result of a litany of building defects, court documents allege.
Over the course of two years, the case has bogged down in a morass of multiple claims ricocheting among the resort owners, insurance companies, contractors, engineers, architects, subcontractors and sub-subcontractors.
This civil case has already generated well over one million pages of evidentiary documents and a stack of 30 door-stop files in the records office at the Santa Barbara Courthouse, and any trial is still more than six months away.
Goleta has lost a legal bid to control mobile home plot rental rates, and now 150 households along Hollister Avenue expect a spike in their monthly dues.
A U.S. District Court judge in Los Angeles this week sided with Daniel Guggenheim, owner of the Rancho Mobile Homes park, who sued over a rent control ordinance that the City Council adopted after Goleta's 2002 incorporation to promote affordable housing.
It's the same ordinance Santa Barbara County enacted in 1979. Goleta became vulnerable when it incorporated and adopted all of the county's ordinances, because newly enacted ordinances are open to legal challenge.
Monday's summary judgment paves the way for three other rent-controlled parks in the city -- the University, Wayside Village and Santa Barbara West parks -- to raise rates on an additional 400 households.
This week's Casa Article is all about finding "Hot Spots" so you can connect to the Internet on the go. If you spend a lot of traveling around with your Laptop or Wi-Fi equipped PDA it would be good to check into Hot Spot Providers.
For more on Is It Hot In Here click here!
According to a report released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Monday, the value of total construction put in place during September was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,013.9 billion, nearly unchanged from the revised August estimate of $1,014.0 billion. This represents an increase of 8.9 percent compared with the September 2003 estimate of $930.8 billion. September 2004 was the second straight month where the projected rate of spending topped $1 trillion.
The report also estimated spending on private construction, including residential and non-residential construction, at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $777.5 billion, 0.1 percent below the revised August estimate. Total spending on private residential construction was estimated at $551.6 billion.
Spending on total public construction was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $236.4 billion. Public residential construction spending was $8.34 billion, roughly even with the August 2004 rate and 18.5 percent above the September 2003 rate.
A 2004 American Community Survey sponsored by NAR and Smart Growth America shows that a commute time of 45 minutes or less is a top priority for 79 percent of Americans when deciding where to live. Other important decision-making criteria include easy access to highways (75 percent) and having sidewalks and places to walk (72 percent).
When asked to choose between two communities, six in 10 respondents chose a neighborhood that offered a shorter commute, sidewalks and amenities like shops, restaurants, libraries, schools and public transportation within walking distance over a sprawling community with larger lots, limited options for walking and a longer commute.
The survey also found that minorities are more likely than other Americans to choose a neighborhood that has a shorter commute, with 59 percent of women, 57 percent of Hispanics and 78 percent of African Americans selecting such communities over those with bigger lots and longer commute times.
Over their objections, the University of California's Sedgwick Reserve, Midland School and a smattering of ranches would be included within the boundaries of the proposed Mission County rather than remain in Santa Barbara County.
That was the decision Monday of the Mission County Formation Review Commission, the five-member panel charged with determining a variety of legal, financial and logistical matters involving the potential county.
The commission considered requests from 14 property owners with parcels contiguous to, or bisected by, the boundary of Mission County -- which is essentially the entire North County. Those were the only requests received from the approximately 135 parcel owners along the boundaries.
Some landowners asked that their property be attached to Mission County if voters ultimately approve creating it in a March 2006 ballot. Others sought allegiance with what would remain of Santa Barbara County.
The Conference Board announced that the leading index experienced its fourth consecutive decline in September, falling 0.1 percent to 115.6 (1996 = 100). Four of the 10 components comprising the index increased, including real money supply, stock prices, orders for non-defense capital goods, and building permits. Vendor performance and average initial claims for unemployment benefits were among the negative indicators. The leading index previously declined 0.3 percent in August.
Following a 0.1 percent increase in August, the coincident index, an index of current economic activity, increased 0.2 percent to 118 in September. All four indicators increased, including personal income and employees on non-agriculture payrolls. During the six-month period that ended in September, the coincident index increased 1.0 percent.
The lagging index stood at 98.1 in September, remaining unchanged from August.
The Conference Board believes that the declines in the leading index have not been large enough nor have they persisted long enough to signal an end to the current economic expansion