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Chapala Street housing proposed Owners seek to build 39-unit complex in old Volkswagen dealership
COURTESY IMAGES
The family who owned the former Volkswagen dealership on 630 Chapala St. is proposing to build a three- to four-story mixed-use housing complex, which is shown in an artist’s illustration.
By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The family who owns the site of the former Volkswagen dealership on Chapala Street is looking to put the pedal to the metal on downtown housing. Proposed for 630 Chapala St. is a mixed-use, three- and four-story housing complex. It would include 39 Average Unit-Size Density Incentive Program rental units, four of which would be affordable and the rest market rate. “It’s taken a while for the family to come together and decide what we thought was the best use of the property,” Tom Meaney, the applicant and architect behind the Santa Barbara project, told the News-Press. His grandfather founded the original car dealership more than 60 years ago, and the architect said that the family could have opened a new car dealership or a commercial property. “But, in terms of the direction of the city, they’re wanting housing downtown, not another car dealership necessarily,” he said, referring to the city of Santa Please see HOUSING on A4
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Roughly 40 firefighters throughout Santa Barbara County have been assigned to Northern California to help fight spreading wildfires near Lake Tahoe. Three major wildfires have taken hold and covered tens of thousands of acres, destroying several homes in their paths. The Beckwourth Complex is the largest wildfire now in Northern California and the largest in the state so far this year. As of Monday, it had burned nearly 90,000 acres, and firefighters had reached 23% containment. Santa Barbara City Fire Chief Chris Mailes told the NewsPress the call came in Sunday for mutual aid for the Beckwourth fire, and as per usual, the department committed to a total of 16 days. “As all of this information has come out about this summer, we are expecting another very intense fire season,” the chief said Monday. “Our fuel moistures, how dry the conditions are, are a couple of months ahead, so we really are looking at September/ October fuel moistures right now in the middle of July. So, of course, that coupled with high temperatures and low relative humidities means it’s ripe for fires all over the state.” Six firefighters from the city department were assigned up north. Of the approximately 40 firefighters in total, 20 are from Santa Barbara County Fire, and
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
RAFAEL MALDONADO / NEWS-PRESS
A three- to four-story apartment building is being proposed in place of the current property — the former Volkswagen car dealership on Chapala Street.
the rest are spread out among the other local jurisdictions. Santa Barbara City Fire sent one brush engine, a strike team leader and a trainee, Chief Mailes said, along with more direct firefighters. There are a total of five engine strike teams from Santa Barbara County now in the region. Chief Mailes referenced the River Fire, a massive blaze burning in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Mariposa and Madera Counties. In just a few hours on Sunday, the fire grew from about 10 acres to roughly 2,500, and nearly doubled in size to 4,000 acres by Monday morning. One of Santa Barbara County Fire’s hand crews is now there at the River Fire, but only 5% containment was reported. The pace of this fire exceeded the pace of last year’s Creek Fire, which burned nearly 380,000 acres in September. “That’s the kind of fire behavior that we are expecting now,” Chief Mailes said. “The fire behavior has changed greatly over the last few years — it’s become more intense. We’ve had to adjust our levels of engagement, and our safety has never been more important. “Even veteran firefighters are saying they haven’t seen these kinds of fire conditions before.” Santa Barbara County has seen multiple vegetation fires this season thus far, the most recent being the Gifford Fire off State Route 166 east of Santa Maria on Sunday evening. Forward Please see FIRES on A3
The State Assembly Health Committee is considering a bill today that seeks to unearth potential corruption in skillednursing facilities’ financial statements. Sen. Henry Stern, D-Los Angeles, introduced the bill, SB 650, in February and accrued co-sponsorships from AARP California, California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform and SEIU California. During a virtual news conference Monday, Sen. Stern said he thinks the bill is likely to receive support from the chair of the Assembly Health Committee. Over the past year, information has spread regarding the owners of for-profit nursing facilities. A Washington Post article last August showed how some nursinghome corporations are writing off expenses paid to companies the owner has a stake in. The corporations, hiding their real profit, then pull more funds from the state and federal government. “The corporate side of this industry, the larger for-profit institutions are transacting in the billions, not the millions, in billions with related parties,” Sen Stern said. “We have very little idea about whether those transactions are actually being taken in a way that is fair, that
prices are not being inflated, that money isn’t being wasted or that profits are not being unjustly pocketed.” To identify related or “shell” companies, the bill requests annual consolidated financial statements audited by a certified public accountant. Owners must also disclose any companies they have at least a 5% share of that transacts with the nursing facility. “The industry capitalizes on an asymmetry of information. The nursing homes know their costs; they know their profits, and the state simply doesn’t,” said Tony Chicotel, CANHR staff attorney. “This lack of transparency results in the state getting ripped off.” He noted that current state regulations focus on licensees, but SB-650 targets owners. Blanca Castro, AARP California director of advocacy, believes it is a nonpartisan issue. The bill passed the Senate floor in June with 34 ayes, three nays and three votes not recorded. Sen. Andreas Borgeas, RFresno; Brian Dahle, R-Bieber, and Brian Jones, R-Santee, issued the three “no” votes. SEIU Local 2015, a union of California’s long-term care workers, joins the bill with a caretaker’s perspective. “SEIU 2015 workers are very ,very proud to be co-sponsoring SB-650 because we feel strongly that shining a light on the lack Please see BILL on A4
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Local firefighters render aid in Northern California
State bill targets nursing home corruption
A proposed housing development for 630 Chapala St. would feature open paseos, arcades and courtyards in place of onsite parking, encouraging walking, biking and public transit.
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T U E SDAY, J U LY 13, 2 021
Sudoku................. B3 Weather................ A4
Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 9-11-15-27-30 Mega: 25
Monday’s DAILY 4: 2-0-5-4
Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 6-37-39-41-46 Mega: 17
Monday’s FANTASY 5: 1-3-7-14-26
Monday’s DAILY DERBY: 08-05-03 Time: 1:40.89
Monday’s POWERBALL: 1-5-29-54-62 Meganumber: 3
Monday’s DAILY 3: 4-9-0 / Midday 7-4-5