Unparalleled challenges face the residents of Santa Barbara County, from increasingly clogged commutes and expensive housing to shrinking open space and agricultural land.
Communities across the 2,737 square-mile county are scrambling to find appropriate areas for new growth as populations expand, in addition to searching for ways to address growing concerns about air quality and environmental protection.
No other agency or organization in the county is more fit to seek out and implement solutions to those challenges than the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments, according to a recent County Grand Jury report...
But the organization, known as SBCAG, has not done enough to focus on comprehensive regional planning, the civil jury found, and instead has focused on road projects rather than other critical issues that impact residents, such as the jobs-housing imbalance and land use planning...
[ Please read the entire story at: "More regional planning needed, report finds" ]
... Santa Barbara Councilmember Das Williams said he is a strong advocate for any type of regional planning that will bring the jobs-housing equation back into balance, or at least tip it in the right direction.
He acknowledged that the process has been politicized in the past, particularly with the notorious north-south split dividing the county, but said he is hopeful that elected leaders will be able to create better relationships in response to the grand jury report.
“Ultimately, we should be working together to minimize development on open space and our agricultural areas, and incentivize housing that’s affordable for working people close to where they work,” Williams said. “Ultimately, that will reduce traffic and keep us strong as a community.”
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"More regional planning needed, report finds," By Eric Lindberg, DAILY SOUND, June 16, 2009
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