"Noleta"

[ Excerpt from SBN-P article by Thomas Schultz, 8/24/2005 ]

S.B. takes step to accept section of Goleta Valley


Responding to a petition bearing more than 4,000 signatures, the Santa Barbara City Council on Tuesday backed a proposal to put areas of the eastern Goleta Valley that are home to 30,000 people under the city's sphere of influence, a move that could lead to annexation.

Called "Noleta" by some and "West Santa Barbara" by others, the unincorporated zone in question spans the 93111, 93110 and a portion of the 93105 ZIP codes.

Its future could become apparent quite soon -- on Sept. 1, board members of the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) will consider the suburban area's fate.

Tuesday's unanimous council decision came over objections from several mobile home residents, who could lose Santa Barbara County rent control protections if their neighborhoods were annexed by Santa Barbara...

Several council members pledged to do everything in their power to fight the loss of mobile home rent controls...

Expanding Santa Barbara's sphere would put eastern Goleta Valley residents in "a comfortable limbo" in which the city has more say in land use decisions, Councilman Das Williams said.

"It's like an extended engagement. We're not asking for more taxes. That comfortable limbo should be maintained for a time, and for some areas perhaps forever," he said...


S.B. takes step to accept section of Goleta Valley