Design work in support of a long debated sewer line proposal won approval from the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors Tuesday.
The green light came over the objection of opponents, who say they worry new infrastructure will drive new development across rural Santa Ynez Valley neighborhoods.
In a 5-0 vote, the board loaned $750,000 at no interest to the Los Olivos Community Services District. They money, officials say, will fund 90% of engineering design work and an environmental review for the potential project.
The decision came after Supervisor Joan Hartmann, whose Third District includes Los Olivos, urged her board counterparts to lend support.
“I am really pleading with you,” Hartmann said. “This is an issue that has existed for over fifty years.”
“We do not want the county to have to take this over,” she said, stressing elected community services district officials seek the funds. “They have looked at every alternative, They have sliced and diced this.”
Los Olivos, which relies on private septic systems, struggles with high nitrate levels in its shallow groundwater, officials say. The new line would connect just shy of 400 parcels to the Solvang municipal sewer system via Alamo Pintado Road.
Opponents question the severity of groundwater issues and embrace other options for dealing with wastewater.
“I am asking why Los Olivos should engineer itself into dependence,” said opponent Keith Saarloos. “We can use shared systems, clustered systems, decentralized treatment and smaller collection systems around problem areas. We can solve the wastewater problems locally, without making Solvang our only option.”
Supervisors move to take sting out of beekeeping
The buzz around a new county ordinance was building Tuesday.
The government moved a step closer to overriding an effective ban on beekeeping on residential and small agricultural properties.
“We were eager to work on this,” said Third District Supervisor Joan Hartmann, herself a former beekeeper.
Added Gina Fischer, Hartmann’s chief of staff: “We are big fans of bees… We like to see bees busy at work.”
The county on most unincorporated land prohibits beekeeping within 300 feet of a property line, unless it’s for crop pollination. Bees also are disallowed within 600 feet of a next-door residence without the neighbor’s permission.
In a 4-0 vote, the Board of Supervisors directed county planners to create new standards based on a range of factors including property size and usage, water supplies, commercial applications, fire safety, complaint resolution strategies and measures to protect native pollinators and prevent aggressive swarming.
Fifth District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino was absent.
The board was expected to vote on a new ordinance within six months.
Catalytic converter thieves, beware
In a 5-0 vote, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday gave law enforcement new tools to crack down and collar criminals cutting catalytic converters from cars.
Calling state laws weak, Fifth District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino in August proposed a harder line on the auto parts thieves.
“This was all motivated by public comment,” he said.
The new rules cover the unincorporated county—preventing anyone who’s not a licensed recycler from possessing a used catalytic converter detached from a vehicle, unless that person can prove ownership.
A first offense would bring a misdemeanor fine of up to $1,000, followed by $3,000 and $5,000 fines. In addition, offenders could be sentenced to up to a year in Santa Barbara County Jail.
Designed to control emissions, catalytic converters first appeared on vehicles in the United States in 1975. Criminals target them because they’re easy to reach and contain valuable precious metals.
State law currently allows the possession of eight catalytic converters. This “serves no lawful purpose,” according to a report from Cory Bantilan, a top Lavagnino aide.
Board Chair Nelson said he lost a catalytic converter to thieves in Santa Maria.
“Hopefully our cities pick up on this and implement it as well,” he said. “It’s definitely a concern.”
Moratorium on new gun shops extended nearly a year
In a 4-1 vote, the Board of Supervisors stiffened a temporary ban on new gun shop approvals Tuesday—extending into August 2027 an urgency moratorium initially approved on Sept. 1.
The moratorium comes as the county explores a permanent ordinance proposed by Capps and Hartmann that would ban new gun shops within 1,000 feet of schools, preschools, licensed childcare centers, parks, playgrounds, youth centers and houses of worship.
Inspiring that ban, Goodland Guns in Goleta in July secured a controversial long-term lease next to the Here We Grow Early Learning Center, a daycare center and preschool. The county ban wouldn’t affect Goodland Guns or other existing shops.
“There’s a lot of businesses at stake when we look at all these impacts,” Capps said.
Board Chair Nelson voted against the moratorium Tuesday without comment. He opposed the earlier version as well, at the time stating a gun store next door makes a school safer.
Since then, county planners say they’ve begun mapping gun shop and school locations and analyzing the finer points of regulating firearms dealers.
Hartmann praised that work.
“We sit up here and think, ‘Oh, you have to make a few changes in an ordinance, and why can’t you do that overnight?’” Hartmann said. “When you map out the steps and what it takes to actually develop an enforceable program, it becomes clear.”
