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Planning panel calls for more research on pipeline County commission reviews addition of 16 new valves for pipeline now owned by ExxonMobil By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The Santa Barbara County Planning Commision is calling for more research on addition of valves to the old Plains All American Pipeline, now owned by ExxonMobil. The pipeline has been shut down since a 2015 rupture that resulted in the Refugio oil spill off the Gaviota Coast. ExxonMobil bought the pipeline in October.
Meeting Wednesday in Santa Barbara, the commission voted 3-2 to direct staff to conduct further research. This could lead to either ultimate denial of the applicants’ request for the upgrade or further review under the California Environmental Quality Act. Staff will report findings back to the planning commission during the April 26 planning commission meeting when this item is resumed. The motion passed 3-2 with commissioners Larry Ferini (4th District) and Victor Martinez (5th District) voting
in opposition. The staff report at Wednesday’s hearing was presented by Katie Nall. This hearing concerned the appeal of the Plains Line 901-903 Valve Upgrade Amendment. This is a request for an amendment in a coastal development permit to install 16 new valves along the existing 901-903 pipeline system running from the Gaviota Coast to Los Padres National Forest within Santa Barbara County. The project would amend the originally approved Celeron/All American Pipeline
Project Major Conditional Use Permit and final development plan as revised in 1988. Most of the public comments were in support of the appellants seeking denial of the valve project. They said the broader issue goes beyond the approval of ExxonMobil’s request for the 16 valves. The public commenters and the commissioners expressed concern that the new valves would lead to a reopening of the pipeline or even construction of a new pipeline. The project is seen as necessary to
comply with Assembly Bill 864, which was authored by First District Supervisor Das Williams when he was an Assembly member. AB 864 mandates operators to install best available technology on existing pipelines within the coastal zone to reduce the volume released in the event of a potential line failure. Installation of BAT is required by April 1. Even if the appeal is denied and the project is approved, the April 1 Please see PIPELINE on A3
Residents seek Protecting the oceans city’s help with evictions issue NEWS-PRESS EXCLUSIVE
UCSB students hold news conference in advance of going to Sacramento
By DAVE MASON
NEWS-PRESS MANAGING EDITOR
Several enthusiastic UCSB students stood Wednesday morning in front of the Campus Lagoon and called for action to make 30% of California’s ocean waters Marine Protected Areas by 2030. The students, who are with the UCSB chapter of California Students Public Interest Research Group, were holding a news conference, complete with signs such as “Protect Our Oceans.” The small audience consisted of UCSB students, a UCSB alumnus and one professional media outlet, the News-Press. The students will repeat their emphasis on marine conservation when they head to Sacramento this weekend and join CALPIRG students from UC campuses throughout the state. An estimated 60 students are expected to show up, including eight or so from UCSB. On Monday, the students from UCSB and other UC campuses will gather on the state Capitol lawn to rally in support of adding MPAs, and they will meet with members of the higher education committees of the Assembly and Senate, CALPIRG Students campus organizer Ori Liwanag told the News-Press Wednesday evening. CALPirg also plans for students to meet with a representative of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office. Currently 9% of the ocean along the California coast consists of Marine Protected Areas, which UCSB student Kristi Copeland, who hosted Wednesday’s news conference, compared to “national parks but in the water.” Although California is a leader in Marine Protected Areas, there’s more that Californians can do, and it’s critical to do it quickly because of climate change, Miss Copeland, 20, told her audience before other speakers talked. After the news conference, some students composed handwritten letters that will be taken to Sacramento. While the letters were written, Ms. Copeland — whose majors include physical geology with an ocean science emphasis — told the News-Press that the most recent
FYI For more information, go on Instagram and look for: @ ucsbcalpirg.
Tenants address Santa Barbara City Council By NEIL HARTSTEIN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
DAVE MASON / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
Logan Bernhoit, one of the speakers at a UCSB news conference, stands in front of students writing letters to lawmakers and state officials in Sacramento. Eight or so UCSB students will be at the Capitol Monday to campaign for expansion of Marine Protected Areas. Mr. Bernhoit said he wants to protect the oceans and the marine-related memories of future generations.
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UCSB student Kristi Copeland talks about the importance of Marine Protected Areas during a news conference Wednesday in front of the Campus Lagoon. MPAs include the nearby Campus Point area. Standing behind Miss Copeland is another of the conference’s speakers, Jake Twomey.
review by California Fish and Wildlife shows the biomass of fish in Marine Protected Areas has grown significantly. MPAs are designed to offer protection for marine life and habitat and can limit human activities to various degrees. According to the California Fish and Wildlife website (wildlife. ca.gov), the three main types of MPAs are State Marine Reserves, State Marine Park and State Marine Conservation area. According to Fish and Wildlife, fishing, kelping and other extractive activities aren’t allowed in SMRs with the exception of scientific collecting with a permit. “SMPs don’t allow any commercial Please see OCEANS on B4
Nearly a dozen Santa Barbara residents appealed Tuesday to the City Council for help with preventing evictions from the homes they’ve occupied for years or even decades. They say their landlords want them gone just so they can bring in new tenants and raise the rent. The residents, speaking during the council’s public comments period, contend their landlords use the excuse of having to make repairs for “safety” and “habitability” reasons, when in reality any changes they make are merely “cosmetic” in nature to justify their ouster. The tenants said that if and when they are offered money to relocate, it’s simply not enough to cover Santa Barbara’s high rents. “Rent evictions are far too easy,” Stanley Tzankov, cofounder of the Santa Barbara Tenants Union, told the council. “They claim they need to do renovations and evict. It’s the only way they can flip the rental unit. “The harm to the community is incredible.” The Santa Barbara Tenants Union is an all-volunteer, tenantled organization dedicated to defending tenants against unjust evictions, rent increases, and negligent and abusive landlords, according to a statement on their website (sbtu.org). “Union members provide each other and other tenants education, solidarity and mutual support in the fight to make housing a human right.” Rick Hanson told council members that he and others had leases from a prior landlord, but when their new landlord took over, he immediately evicted half the tenants. As for the others, the new landlord only gave them new leases “if he decided they deserve it,” Mr. Hanson said. Mr. Hanson, who said he’s lived in the same place for 25 years, claimed the landlord has tried to evict the other tenants, too. “He has yet to offer us a lease or follow the law,” he said. He said he and his housemate, who has lived there 40 years,
“have paid for the house several times over the years. “This is absolutely a travesty,” he said, nearly in tears. “I’m upset about it.” Kenny Chism, a Westmont College graduate, complained about Santa Barbara’s high rents, saying renters often need three roommates “just to make it work.” “I haven’t lived anywhere else as an adult,” he said. “There’s no way to pay rent this high. I make friends, and within a year, they have to leave.” He joined the others to protest “the shoddy excuse of mandatory renovations” to raise the rent. “I implore you to ban rent evictions and put in place policies to stop evictions,” he said. One speaker, who said he’s lived in Santa Barbara since 1965, said fighting his eviction “has been really hard on me. I’m winning, but it doesn’t feel like I’m winning. “Rent eviction is a farce,” he said. “It’s a ridiculously easy way for a slumlord to make cosmetic repairs and then raise the rent. “Something has to be done. Too many citizens can’t afford to stay in Santa Barbara anymore, especially seniors.” Another speaker noted that when she and others in her building spoke up about repairs that actually did need to be made, “we got evicted, all of us, instead of him doing something about it.” She said the three-month relocation fee she received is not enough to pay the high rents Santa Barbara landlords are asking, and that she still has not found a place to live — even while her old place sits vacant. “It hasn’t been easy to find a place to live under these circumstances,” she said, crying. “Everybody is hiking it up. This shouldn’t be happening. We should do more. I’m really upset and nauseous at what’s going on.” Another speaker said he’s not been evicted yet, but expects he will be once his elderly landlord passes away and another takes over. He stressed that if council members were to take any action, they should focus on Please see EVICTIONS on B4
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