Watch: Bad Week for Sable Oil and Mystery Mission Developers; Latest on Rent Control, Shutdown Impacts, SB Budget Shocker
It was a big week on the housing beat and Newsmakers TV's All-Star Panel of Top Local Journalists has all the latest, from Mission Canyon to Paseo Nuevo, plus the rest of Santa Barbara's top stories.
At a time when Santa Barbara’s unique character is threatened on multiple fronts, embattled local residents got glimmers of good news this week in at least three long-running conflicts:
Oil. SB Superior Court Judge Thomas Anderle ruled that Sable Offshore Corp. performed extensive work on its antiquated pipeline near Refugio beach without proper permits, upholding the Coastal Commission’s legal moves and fines against the rogue oil outfit and delaying, at least for now, the company’s bid to re-start pumping offshore oil from platforms in the Santa Barbara Channel.
Mission. State Senator Monique Limón’s end-of-session legislative emandation, aimed at requiring environmental review of a blockbuster project proposed to be built near the Santa Barbara Mission by shady out-of-town developers, proved successful, as Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it as part of a complex, previously-passed trailer bill to legislation amending the California Environmental Quality Act.
Paseo Nuevo. A sweetheart development deal cooked up behind closed doors for the Paseo Nuevo mall, which would transform the character of downtown Santa Barbara, laid a major egg in its public unveiling, as members of the Planning Commission in an extraordinary meeting assailed it for a host of reasons, ranging from its obliteration of the city’s height limit to its failure to provide sufficient affordable housing units.
On this week’s episode of Newsmakers TV, Christina McDermott, Ryan P. Cruz, Josh Molina and Nick Welsh break down how and why these events emerged, and provide some well-informed analysis and commentary on what happens next.
Plus: juicy political chatter swirling around the latest effort by lefty City Council members to impose rent control; a look at the practical ways the federal government shutdown is impacting SB; and a new shock budget report warns of a tsunami of red ink headed towards City Hall.
All this and more, right here, right now on Newsmakers TV.
Check out our All-Star Panel of Top Local Journalists via YouTube below, or by clicking through this link. Our podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, or on Soundcloud here. TVSB, Channel 17, airs the show every weeknight at 5 p.m. and at 9 a.m. on weekends. KCSB, 91.9 FM, broadcasts the program at 5:30 on Monday.
Image: Artist rendering of eight-story tower proposed to be built behind the Mission (Santa Barbara Independent).
Post two martini (my disclaimer) comment: Epic /wonderfully lively show. Love Christina’s housing articles/she understands that there is no magic bullet. That said, a few facts for everyone to chew on: Many national studies peg 8% as a healthy vacancy rate that will drive pricing down (supply and demand). SB’s vacancy rate—and, no, I’m not a “build baby build” Guy—anemic 1.7%. We need more housing! Affordable alternatives are imperative (housing element/new trust fund) but the issue here is the reality that our city council caved to out of town union labor that has driven the cost—per single unit—.to an insane $1M. We could build 40% more housing using LOCAL non union labor (gotta love money in politics:)) Finally, NW was spot on talking about a generational inflection point. Because I’m a relative newbie (got here in 1998) I have a difficult time understanding the idea that Paseo Nuevo should somehow stay the same when it’s a mall that has lost it’s anchor stores. News Flash: The world has changed and if the $4.5B AB commercial walks (they don’t need the SB-hassle!) then what is the alternative? Captain Obvious: Never let the perfect get in the way of the good. If Paseo Nuevo blows-up it will leave an economic black hole in the center of our already decimated downtown corridor sucking what little economic activity we have with it. We once had a world class brand but we are swiftly racing to the bottom and rather than lamenting the decent, some are actually throwing fuel on the fire. Baffling.
Oh, sorry, one last thing. You don’t have to go back to Levittown in the 1950’s to show that supply and demand is more than theoretical. Austin TX—rental prices decreased by 21% in 2024–is the well know lm poster child for “the supply effect.”