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Suspects in Stearns Wharf shooting to be arraigned today By NEIL HARTSTEIN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Three alleged juvenile gang associates from Ventura County will be arraigned today on charges connected to the Dec. 9 fatal shooting of an innocent bystander on Stearns Wharf who was allegedly caught in the middle of a crossfire between them and rival Santa Barbara gang associates. Over the weekend, Mayor Randy Rowse issued a statement denouncing the shooting and those involved, and praising police for their hard work apprehending the accused participants. “The crime committed on Stearns
Wharf in December was horrific, random and senseless,” Mayor Rowse said. “This tragic act cost the life of an innocent bystander who, as we understand it now, was enjoying our city as a visitor. This is absolutely unacceptable. The level of crime of any kind that can be tolerated is zero, but this event was particularly heinous. “The police work involved to investigate this crime was performed in a deliberate, precise way and resulted in the identification and arrests of seven suspects,” he added. “These actors are now off of our streets and facing the full measure of the law. The thorough and patient procedures followed by our law
enforcement personnel, while criticized by some, will help to ensure that the victim’s loved ones can begin to receive some closure.” Santa Barbara County District Attorney John Savrnoch announced Friday that three juveniles had been charged in connection with the killing of Robert Dion Gutierrez, 52, of Camarillo, that occurred at Stearns Wharf on Dec. 9. Two of the three juveniles, both 15, have been charged with murder in connection with the slaying, with the special allegation that they “discharged a firearm proximately causing death.” The third juvenile, 16, has been charged with being an accessory after the fact to
murder, and with illegal possession of an unregistered firearm. The three juveniles remain in custody and are scheduled to be arraigned today at the Santa Maria Juvenile Court. The three juveniles were arrested by Santa Barbara Police Department officers on Thursday. Their arrests were the result of an intense police investigation to identify and bring to justice additional suspects following the Jan. 19 arrest of four adult suspects in Santa Barbara who allegedly were involved in the slaying, Lt. Kasi Corbett said. Santa Barbara Police, assisted by several outside agencies, served search
Man arrested in connection to SM courtroom fire Suspect allegedly broke into Santa Maria Court Complex, started fire that caused almost $750,000 in damage
By NEIL HARTSTEIN
By NEIL HARTSTEIN
COURTESY PHOTO
A fire started in the Santa Maria Court Complex’s Department 8 courtroom resulted in an estimated $750,000 worth of damage. A Nipomo man, Eric Spies, was arrested for allegedly starting the fire.
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The Carpinteria City Council and Planning Commission will hold a special joint meeting today to hear an update on new state housing laws taking effect in 2023. The two boards will meet in council chambers, 5775 Carpinteria Ave., starting at 5:30 p.m. Continuing its efforts to address the statewide housing crisis, the state Legislature enacted a large volume of housing production laws in the 2022 session in a multipronged attempt to promote the development of new housing in general and increase the availability of affordable housing specifically, staff said in its report. The entire housing legislation package creates new, complex requirements for local agencies responsible for permitting housing. Implementing these new housing laws is made even more complex for coastal cities like Carpinteria due to the need to implement them in a manner consistent with the California Coastal Act. The new housing legislation focuses on the following issue areas: • Streamlining approvals and incentivizing high-density development; • Parking reform and other cost reductions; • Accessory dwelling units and increased bedroom counts; • Affordable housing development and housing equality. Several bills were passed to promote high-density development. One allows for ministerial, California Environmental Quality Act-exempt approval process for deed-restricted 100% lower income affordable housing on commercially-zoned lands, and also allows for such approvals for mixed-income housing along commercial corridors, as long as the projects meet specified affordability, labor, and environmental criteria. The bill also requires that all projects seeking approval under its provisions ensure all construction workers earn prevailing wages and receive health benefits.
A second bill allows certain residential uses on commercially-zoned property (retail and office space) without requiring a rezoning, and allows project applicants to invoke the Housing Accountability Act to limit local discretion to deny or condition project approval. However, it does not provide a ministerial approval pathway, and it requires applicants to commit to both prevailing wage and more costly “skilled and trained workforce” requirements for project labor. The State Density Bonus Law allows developers to increase density, access concessions to reduce development costs, waive development standards and reduce parking in exchange for providing affordable housing. lt is amended nearly every year in an effort to unlock more housing production potential. A new bill updates the definition of maximum allowable residential density for the purpose of determining the “base density” to which bonus density may be added. Specifically, it provides that if the density under the zoning ordinance is inconsistent with the density allowed under the land use element of the general plan or specific plan, the greater shall prevail. The law also dictates a method for determining the “base density” in terms of units in the many local jurisdictions where the general plan, specific plan or zoning does not provide dwelling unit per acre standards for density. The bill also makes 100% lower income affordable housing projects that are located in a very low vehicle travel area in a designated county eligible for four incentives or concessions, unlimited density bonuses as well as an automatic height increase of up to three stories or 33 feet. Regarding Accessory Dwelling Units (granny flats) and lncreased Bedroom Counts, one law contains clean-up language and clarifications to reduce permitting hurdles for ADU applicants, including requiring local agencies to approve or deny an ADU application within 60 days of its completeness determination. Agencies that deny an ADU Please see CARP on A4
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Carp Council, Planning Commission to discuss state housing laws NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Santa Maria police arrested a Nipomo man for allegedly breaking into the Santa Maria Court Complex, forcing his way into a courtroom and starting a fire which set off water sprinklers, causing close to $750,000 damage to furniture, wall paneling, carpeting and court files, officials said. “The courtroom will be offline for about a year,” Court Executive Officer Darrel Parker told the News-Press on Monday. All the carpet, non-fixed furniture and cabinetry have to be removed, including wood paneling on the walls and public seating in the audience. The water damage also went underneath the judge’s bench. He said they were waiting for storage units to be brought on site Monday afternoon to receive everything that was damaged. “The extent of damage is more than we originally knew,” he said. The original estimate was $500,000, but it could cost another $200,000 worth of work to restore damaged court records. “Files in the basement were compromised,” he said. “They’re wet but there’s no mold on them yet. A preservation company is coming in to freeze dry the documents and make digital images of them before they deteriorate. It’s happening now. The crew is coming in today.” “We’re probably at three quarters of a million dollars,” he said. The water abatement/ restoration company was on site Monday to continue the clean-up process, Mr. Parker said, adding that the court’s maintenance guy has already fixed the damaged courtroom doors. “They have to dry everything out, and figure out how much more they have to demolish before they can restore it,” he said. “It’s going to be a long process, and I’m sure there will be some hiccups along the way.” Because of a judicial vacancy, Please see FIRE on A4
and arrest warrants at multiple locations in Los Angeles County and Ventura County, she said. A firearm was recovered in the course of executing the search and arrest warrants, but it is not known at this time if the gun was used in the commission of the crime. Police described Mr. Gutierrez as an innocent bystander who was in Santa Barbara with his wife walking on Stearns Wharf “when he was struck and killed by one of the rounds fired during an altercation between two groups of individuals at the base of the wharf. “One group involved in the altercation has been identified as local Santa Please see SHOOTING on A3
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