Date: Sat, 27 Jan 2007 15:25:12 -0800 (PST) From: SB CAN ACTION ALERT <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: SB CAN members and friends <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: URGENT Housing Element Meeting
Santa Barbara County Action Network INFORMATION & ACTION ALERT Community Meeting, January 30, 6 PM, Santa Maria 2003-2008 Housing Element Environmental Impact Report (This meeting will be televised. More info follows.) Greetings, SB CAN members and friends. Here's your chance to learn more about the County Housing Element Environmental Impact Report (EIR). While SB CAN supports the Housing Element (HE) and the County's commitment to build more affordable and workforce housing in our communities, we are concerned that all ten of the sites proposed for study are located in the north county, and five are in the Orcutt community. This planning seems out of balance, impacting one portion of the county while failing to meet the housing needs of the south county, where most of the jobs are located. Such planning is likely to add many long commutes on highways that are already overcrowded during peak driving times. Three important facts to consider: Once the EIR is done on these sites, another EIR does not have to be done again when development is being planned on those sites, providing the proposed development is "consistent" with what was studied in the HE EIR. This risks that some important impacts specific to a particular project will be overlooked or glossed over. A project cannot be denied if it provides 20% low income, affordable housing units unless there are serious public health, safety and welfare issues. That means that important issues normally taken into consideration, such as biology considerations, visual impacts and neighborhood compatibility, could be ignored. A new state ruling requires that the County must fulfill its promise to make it possible for 6000 units to be built within this HE update or the sites will be added on to the next one. The county could meet this requirement by rezoning, limiting future environmental review, expediting permit processing and the like. This could curtail or even eliminate effective public participation when a project is making its way through the county's application process Please join us at the following community meeting to learn more about this important issue, ask questions or voice your concerns. WHAT: Community Meeting 2003-2008 Housing Element Environmental Impact Report. WHEN: Tuesday, January 30, 6:00 pm WHERE: Board of Supervisors Hearing Room Betteravia Government Center 511 E. Lakeside Pkwy, Santa Maria According to the County's posting, "The purpose of this meeting is to inform interested parties about the State housing mandate and the ongoing effort to update Santa Barbara County's 2003-2008 Housing Element. There will be an opportunity for questions from the public." For more information, phone 805-568-2068 or email [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.countyofsb.org/plandev/comp/programs/housing/2003/EIR.asp Please forward this email to your friends and neighbors. Deborah Brasket SB CAN Executive Director [EMAIL PROTECTED] Our postal address is P.O. Box 23453 Santa Barbara, California 93121 United States ' --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
