Changes of Meeting Places
For Sustainable Communities Committee
In January, our committee held our first meeting in Maravilla Senior Residence, and it was one of the largest and best meetings ever, because Lauren Hanson from the Goleta Water District took one full hour to answer some of the hardest questions about water supply that our members asked.
On Friday, Feb. 10 we will meet at Encina Royale, possibly for the last time. At that meeting we will discuss other possible new locations, and everyone may bring ideas. They have instituted new regulations at Encina Royale that may make meeting there impossible.
With the recent rains we may be able to move from water to another source of concern for sustainability. That is the City of Santa Barbara's Average Unit Density (AUD) program, which has introduced 800 more apartment units, or more, into the development pipeline. As originally planned, these units were to be more affordable because they were small. As a few have been built and occupied, the developers have explained that they will have to be "market rate" priced. That turns out to be $2,500 or $3,000 a month rent. League is very concerned that older, more affordable rental units will be torn down to build these new expensive units, evicting people who cannot pay the new rents.
The Committee thanks Lauren Hanson for the several times that she has come to answer the League's questions, and for the clarity with which she shares the water district's plans. We hope that the extreme drought stress on all the water districts may be somewhat helped by this year's rains. Our Water Committee will continue to follow water policy closely.
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