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Munger Hall tour UCSB shows model rooms for controversial housing project
NEWS-PRESS EXCLUSIVE
Mother pleads not guilty to child endangerment By NEIL HARTSTEIN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
The single bedroom of a typical suite in Munger Hall is shown during a tour of a mock-up of Munger Hall, a future proposed residence hall at UCSB. Instead of a window, the room gets a simulation of natural light from a fake window above the bed.
By JARED DANIELS NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
UCSB recently led the NewsPress on a tour of model rooms for its proposed Munger Hall — a student housing project that led to a protest last fall on campus and inspired national headlines because of its lack of windows. While the national firestorm has largely died down, locals and students alike have continued to condemn the project, which is in part financed by a $200 million grant from billionaire Charles Munger. The grant was given on the condition that the university maintain the design of the building that was submitted by Mr. Munger. One of the most widelychastised features is the lack of windows. Most of the building’s singleoccupancy bedrooms (referred to as “pods” by the university) will not have any windows. Instead, the building will receive light from artificial sources that are programmed to replicate the light outside — meaning they will automatically change in appearance based on the lighting outside. Plans call for Munger Hall to be located on 3 acres near Harder Stadium. It is designed to house 4,500 students. The housing project is awaiting approval from the UC Board of Regents. The News-Press visited a replica site for model rooms on Los Carneros Road in Goleta, which is intended to serve as a staging area for the project during construction. One of the first model rooms the News-Press toured at this warehouse was one of Munger Hall’s single-occupancy bedrooms, which UCSB calls “pods.”
By NEIL HARTSTEIN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Billionaire Charles Munger’s design has ignited debate because of its lack of real windows.
The News-Press instantly noticed one of the artificial light producers in the room. The light emitted from a false window that was positioned at a higher point than where a window would usually appear. The second false window — which was positioned on an exterior wall — was initially mistaken by this writer for a real window. While a drawn shade covering masked the false window’s appearance, the light that emitted from it appeared as natural lighting given the time of day. Each pod is located in a suite that contains a total of eight pods. The building will feature Please see MUNGER on A4
This is the shared bathroom of a typical Munger Hall suite.
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The Santa Barbara City Council today will consider establishing a short-term rental permitting framework. The council will meet at 2 p.m. at City Hall, 735 Anacapa St. Staff is recommending the council provide direction regarding a future short-term rental permitting program. The recommendation calls for the council to direct staff to draft a short-term rental permitting ordinance for review by the Planning Commission, Ordinance Committee, Finance Committee and council. Short-term rentals are dwelling units rented for 30 days or less. “With the advent of online rental platforms like AirBNB, VRBO and Homeaway, the popularity and prevalence of short-term rentals has dramatically grown in Santa Barbara over the last decade, bringing with it concerns about the loss of long-term housing, nuisance and neighborhood impacts, land-use compatibility, real estate speculation and environmental impact,” staff said. Short-term rentals are
regulated as hotels and are only allowed in zones where hotels are permitted. The process to convert a residential property to a shortterm rental is seen as challenging for many property owners. Enforcement of existing shortterm rental regulations is staffintensive, time-consuming and especially challenging in the Coastal Zone portion of the city, where they are only regulated based on nuisance-related activity, staff said. “As a result, many short-term rentals operate illegally,” staff said. Staff recommends developing a ministerial short-term rental permitting program that minimizes the change in intensity of use, limits nuisance impacts, preserves long-term housing and improves staff’s ability to enforce adopted regulations, while limiting administrative costs to the city. The popularity and prevalence of short-term rentals has dramatically grown in Santa Barbara over the last decade, bringing with it code compliance challenges and a variety of concerns that are not Please see COUNCIL on A4
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SB Council to consider short-term rental permitting
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A Mammoth Lakes woman — who was charged with child abuse for allegedly abandoning her 6year-old child for more than 24 hours without food and who was later allegedly found intoxicated — pleaded not guilty to three felony counts at her arraignment Monday in Santa Barbara County Superior Court. Lauren Paige Tracy — aka Lauren Paige Beall, aka Tracy Lauren Beall, aka Tracy Beall — is scheduled to return to court on Oct. 10 to set a date for her preliminary hearing, Deputy District Attorney Justin Greene told the News-Press. The complaint against Ms. Tracy, 46, charges her with child abuse under circumstances or conditions likely to cause great bodily injury or death in connection with the July 23 incident in Santa Barbara County. Ms. Tracy also is charged with possession of a firearm with a prior misdemeanor conviction — a tan 9mm pistol and a gray and black 9 mm pistol — and with possession of ammunition by a person prohibited from doing so by an injunction, or temporary restraining order or protective order. The complaint also listed an aggravating factor in that the victim was “particularly vulnerable,” and because her prior convictions as an adult and juvenile delinquent are numerous and of increasing seriousness. Ms. Tracy is not in custody and was cited to appear in court for her arraignment. She was arrested by Santa
Barbara police in the 1100 block of Cliff Drive on July 23. Santa Barbara dispatchers had received a phone call about a child being endangered, and police responded to an address in the 800 block of Highland Drive to investigate. Officers arrived and contacted the reporting party, a babysitter who had arrived at the residence to look after the child, then 5. Police said that when the babysitter arrived, she found the child alone and unattended in the home. The child’s mother was reportedly nowhere to be found. Officers learned the babysitter had been hired through a childcare website. The babysitter had expected to meet the child’s guardian and was “extremely surprised” to find the minor unattended, police said at the time. Investigating officers reported that the child had been left alone for more than 24 hours without food. Detectives subsequently obtained a search warrant and after determining the mother’s location, they found her and she was allegedly intoxicated, police said. Ms. Tracy was arrested and booked in Santa Barbara County Jail on suspicion of committing several felonies: child endangerment, possession of undetectable “ghost guns,” unlawful possession of ammunition with a prior misdemeanor conviction, child neglect and criminal storage of a firearm.
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Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 6-12-21-23-36 Mega: 7
Monday’s DAILY 4: 9-5-3-5
Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 5-50-53-58-64 Mega: 22
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