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County maintains emergency status for meetings Board of Supervisors votes 3-2 in favor of COVID-19 measures By KAITLYN SCHALLHORN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors is keeping its COVID-19 state of emergency, allowing for social distancing and remote hearings. Although public commenters asked the board to remove the state of emergency, board members spent some time clarifying exactly what the emergency consideration covered: remote testimony and social distancing, not mask mandates.
“We’re not out of the woods yet. We just need a little more patience from people,” Supervisor Gregg Hart said. “No one is talking about extending the mask order indefinitely. It’s just going to require a little more patience … I think people will be really relieved when we get to that place, and it’s safe, and we can adjust our habits accordingly.” The board approved the measure during Tuesday morning’s meeting 3-2. Supervisors Steve Lavagnino and Bob Nelson were the lone no votes.
Supervisor Lavagnino said this should be a period of transition that would lead to the removal of the emergency status. But Supervisor Das Williams said what the board was considering Tuesday was “an operational question,” noting most of the speakers who asked the board to remove the emergency status did so via remote testimony. Additionally, the board discussed the ground lease agreement for a DignityMoves Santa Barbara project at the county-owned property at 1016
Melting into the sea
Santa Barbara St. DignityMoves plans to provide 33 private rooms in temporary modular interim housing for people who are experiencing homelessness. “Tackling homelessness is one of those things where the solutions always end up being more unpopular than the problem is,” said Supervisor Williams. “We have an operating agreement, and we’re going to keep the ship real tight. The urgency of making this project show the community that it can be done in a very functional way is what will open doors for solving the
homeless problem — or at least greatly reducing it.” Supervisor Nelson said he hoped to work with DignityMoves on projects in his district as well. “I do believe these types of projects are our pathway forward to addressing the encampment situation we have in our community with people living in the streets,” he said. The board unanimously approved the administrative agenda which included Please see BOARD on A4
California’s indoor mask mandate to expire next week By MADISON HIRNEISEN THE CENTER SQUARE
(The Center Square) – California’s statewide indoor mask mandate will expire next week, allowing many vaccinated Californians to remove their masks in indoor public spaces, officials announced Monday. The state’s indoor mask mandate, which initially took effect Dec. 15, will expire on Feb. 15, state officials said Monday. The temporary requirement was originally set to expire Jan. 15 but was extended last month amid surging COVID-19 cases. In Santa Barbara County, an indoor mask mandate will remain in place until March 3, and may be extended beyond that date. Under state requirements, unvaccinated individuals will still be required to wear
masks indoors. Additionally, counties can still impose their own mask mandates, meaning some vaccinated Californians could still be required to wear masks indoors, depending on where they live. The decision comes as California has witnessed a sharp decline in COVID-19 cases since peaking in January. At its peak in January, the state was averaging nearly 300 new cases per 100,000 residents. As of this week, that rate dropped to an average of about 103 cases per 100,000, according to data from the California Department of Public Health. “CA’s case rate has decreased by 65% since our Omicron peak,” Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted on Monday, announcing the expiration of the mask mandate. “Our hospitalizations have stabilized across the state.”
Santa Barbara City Council gives initial greenlight for street vendor regulations By KAITLYN SCHALLHORN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS
The sun sets near Platform Holly off Isla Vista on Sunday.
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The Santa Barbara City Council gave initial approval for a plan to regulate sidewalk vending. The council-revised ordinance will be redrafted by the city attorney and will need to return back to the council again. The ordinance before the city council during Tuesday’s agenda meeting was touted as a way to create more economic and entrepreneurial development opportunities for micro-enterprises, Jason Harris, Santa Barbara’s economic development manager, said. But it would allow Santa Barbara to establish specific distance requirements, regulations for operations in residential and nonresidential areas, and more. A 2019 state law enabled sidewalk vending with limited government regulations, but Santa Barbara’s city code conflicts as it prohibits the commercial use of sidewalks, Mr. Harris told the council. Under the regulations, non-food vendors would just need a business license, set at $25. Those that sell food would also need a permit from the county’s health department. Both required licenses and permits would need to be displayed. A roaming sidewalk vendor would be allowed to operate in residential areas from 8 a.m. to 30 minutes past sunset. Stationary vendors would be confined to non-residential zones only. Distance requirements between vendors
and brick-and-mortar businesses as well as between various vendors are also established in the ordinance. Councilmember Alejandra Gutierrez expressed concern about the amount of bilingual staff within the city’s finance department, which would regulate the licenses, who could properly help potential vendors. “If we have street vendors, mainly it’s because there’s a language barrier, and with that comes not understanding how to navigate the system, the feeling of being overwhelmed,” Ms. Gutierrez said. Council members expressed concern about what forms of identification could be provided to obtain the business license and how fees would be levied without proper education of the community. Councilmember Meagan Harmon’s motion changed the ordinance to expand acceptable ID documentation to obtain a license, allow a warning to be issued to errant vendors before a fine is levied, place a one-year moratorium on fines as the ordinance is implemented, and require city staff to issue a report on the status of the ordinance after one year. The council voted 4-1 to propel that revised ordinance forward with Councilmember Oscar Gutierrez the lone dissenter. In other business Tuesday, the city council also adopted a proclamation recognizing Black History Month in February for Santa Barbara.
Sudoku................. B3 Weather................ A4
Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 7-10-15-28-34 Mega: 26
Tuesday’s DAILY 4: 9-5-2-4
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 1-17-20-52-54 Mega: 2
Tuesday’s FANTASY 5: 6-18-25-38-39
Tuesday’s DAILY DERBY: 11-03-04 Time: 1:47.09
Saturday’s POWERBALL: 5-16-27-39-61 Meganumber: 24
Tuesday’s DAILY 3: 2-9-5 / Midday 7-8-6