Category: News

On Sept. 27, State Senator Monique Limón and Assemblymember Steve Bennett awarded a $1.05 million check to the City of Carpinteria and the County of Santa Barbara to support oil remediation work.

The City of Carpinteria’s $500,000 portion of the state funding will be used to carry out proper abandonment of an oil pipeline that runs east from the Carpinteria Oil & Gas Plant on Dump Road to La Conchita. As an outcome of Venoco Inc.’s 2017 bankruptcy, Chevron has taken responsibility for decommissioning the Carpinteria Oil & Gas Plant, but the pipeline is outside of the Plant site and, like many other oil and gas facilities throughout the state, the government will be required to complete the abandonment work.

“This funding will ensure that local taxpayers are not burdened with the costs for the abandonment of oil facilities left in limbo by the bankruptcy of a private oil company,” stated Mayor Wade Nomura. “Although indicative of a broader regulatory and policy issue concerning costs and responsibility for decommissioning and abandonment of oil and gas facilities in California, today we can celebrate a success.”

The City of Carpinteria thanks Senator Limón and Assemblymember Bennett for their incredibly important work to ensure the California budget trailer bill included the necessary funding.

The Carpinteria Planning Commission will discuss the status of the Proposed Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Program at its meeting on Monday, Oct. 4 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, 5775 Carpinteria Ave. City staff will provide a status report on the proposed program that would implement recent State enactments of housing laws to promote development of ADUs. The Planning Commission may then provide recommendations to the City Council regarding program components. For more information, contact Rita Bright, Principal Planner, at (805) 755-4441. The full meeting agenda and associated staff reports are available at carpinteria.ca.us/city-hall/agendas-meetings/

ARB TO CONSIDER DOWNTOWN PROJECTS

The City’s Architectural Review Board will consider two downtown commercial projects at its next meeting on Thursday, Sept. 30 at 5:30 p.m. The meeting will be held in person in the City Council Chambers, 5775 Carpinteria Ave. The agenda, linked below, includes detailed information on how to participate and how to submit public comment. All attendees are required to wear face coverings regardless of vaccination status. Highlights of the meeting are listed below. The full agenda and staff reports can be found at https://bit.ly/2XKfhwD.

700 Linden Adaptive Reuse

In-progress review of a proposal for an adaptive reuse project that would remodel and reconfigure the existing buildings in the 700 block of Linden Avenue to create a multi-tenant retail, restaurant and office development with a central outdoor plaza. The project includes a new second floor addition comprised of office suites, a bar and rooftop deck/patio areas. A 20-space surface parking lot is proposed for the rear of the property, accessed from Cactus Lane.

4835 Carpinteria Avenue

Preliminary/final review of a request to allow for exterior alterations to accommodate a new outdoor patio addition and a minor interior remodel for a new coffee house within an existing business. Exterior work would involve alterations to the existing parking lot for a new outdoor patio addition, new site wall, landscaping and partial reconfiguration of the parking lot.

The Carpinteria City Council will hold its next regular meeting on Monday, Sept. 27 at 5:30 p.m. In accordance with State guidance, the City will provide both in-person and virtual attendance and participation options for the meeting.

Members of the public may attend the meeting at City Hall, 5775 Carpinteria Ave. In accordance with the Santa Barbara County Health Officer Order, masks are required for both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. Members of the public may also view the meeting live at www.carpinteria.ca.us, on Government Access Television Channel 21 or by logging into the Zoom webinar through the link in the agenda below.

The following topics are highlights of the agenda. Additional details and numerous ways for the public to provide comments can be found at https://bit.ly/3udwdrh. Comments posted on social media will not be provided to council members.

• Proclamations & Presentations: Retirement recognition for Kevin Silk, Assistant to the City Manager (postponed from Sept. 13 meeting)   
• Status Report concerning Memorandum of Understanding discussions between the City, Housing Authority of Santa Barbara County and County of Santa Barbara concerning multi-family residential development on property at 1101 and 1103 Bailard Ave.
• Sheriff’s Department Annual Report on Law Enforcement Services

California Coastal Cleanup Day will take place on Saturday, Sept. 18 from 9 a.m. to noon, and the City of Carpinteria encourages you to pitch in that day or any day to help prevent ocean pollution. Organized cleanups will take place at Jelly Bowl, Carpinteria State Beach, Rincon County Park and Santa Claus Lane. Alternatively, you can participate by picking up litter in your neighborhood, park or other local area. Trash from inland areas flows downstream to the coast, so cleaning up neighborhood trash prevents marine debris. Gather cleanup supplies from home, download the CleanSwell app to count your trash, and to have your trash counted!

The Carpinteria City Council has proclaimed September as Suicide Prevention Month. The proclamation recognizes suicide as a public health problem and suicide prevention as a community responsibility. Worldwide there are more deaths by suicide than by homicide and war combined. In Santa Barbara County, suicide is the second leading cause of injury and death . The City of Carpinteria works collaboratively with Santa Barbara County Department of Behavior Wellness and HopeNet of Carpinteria (representative of which are pictured here with members of the City Council) and appreciates the services they offer to the Carpinteria community in preventing suicide.

JOB SEEKERS: CITY OF CARPINTERIA NOW HIRING

The City of Carpinteria is now hiring for numerous positions. Please take a moment to read through the following list and access details about each position through the links provided.

City Librarian: The new City Librarian will perform a wide variety of advanced level professional librarian duties including overseeing day-to-day operations. Learn more at https://carpinteria.applicantpro.com/jobs/1974374.html

City Clerk: The City Clerk plans, directs, administers and coordinates procedures related to municipal elections, initiatives, referendums and recall petitions and ensures compliance with conflict-of-interest laws and Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) regulations. Learn more at https://carpinteria.applicantpro.com/jobs/1811084.html.

Civil Engineer – The City Engineer applies civil engineering knowledge (construction, environmental, geotechnical, structural, transportation, and water resources) to plan, design, and/or review capital improvement and land development projects. Learn more at https://carpinteria.applicantpro.com/jobs/1663858.htmlPool Lifeguard – Part time/seasonal pool lifeguards perform varied lifesaving and accident prevention services at the Community Pool. Learn more at https://carpinteria.applicantpro.com/jobs/1976640.html

On Sept. 13, the Carpinteria City Council declared the period of Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, 2021 as Hispanic Heritage Month in recognition of the many contributions Hispanics have made to our country, and to promote greater awareness of the rich history and culture of the Hispanic community.

The Carpinteria City Council will hold its next regular meeting on Monday, Sept. 13 at 5:30 p.m. In accordance with State guidance, the City will provide both in-person and virtual attendance and participation options for the meeting.

Members of the public may attend the meeting at City Hall, 5775 Carpinteria Ave. In accordance with the Santa Barbara County Health Officer Order, masks are required for both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. Members of the public may also view the meeting live at www.carpinteria.ca.us, on Government Access Television Channel 21 or by logging into the Zoom webinar through the link in the agenda below.

The following topics are highlights of the agenda. Additional details and numerous ways for the public to provide comments can be found at https://bit.ly/3hoq7iN. Comments posted on social media will not be provided to council members.

• Proclamations & Presentations: Retirement recognition for Kevin Silk, Assistant to the City Manager, a proclamation declaring Sept. 15 – Oct. 15 as Hispanic Heritage Month and a proclamation declaring September as Suicide Prevention Month.
• Status Report of Treatment of Various Street Trees Along Eleanor Drive, La Paloma Drive, Malibu Drive, Sterling Avenue, Sterling Way, and Tomol Drive.
• Purchase of three trucks for the Public Works Department and one truck for the Parks, Recreation and Public Facilities Department.
• Approval of the application for Rural Recreation and Tourism Program (RRT) Grand funds to the California Department of Parks and Recreation Office of Grants and Local Services (OGALS).
• A status report on the City’s Short-Term Rental (STR) program.

The California Avocado Festival has announced that the festival planned for this October at Linden Field will be postponed to 2022. The announcement states: “We are committed to providing a family friendly free festival to the public and we were faced with challenges again this year that did not make it feasible or safe to move forward. This decision was made due to capacity concerns, the changing nature of COVID-19, and to minimize the potential risk to members of our community as well as the several thousand out of town visitors that attend the event each year.”

Festival organizers say they will continue holding pop-up shops with festival merchandise at the Carpinteria Farmers Market and smaller events and acknowledgements in other locations. Details will be announced soon.