Welcome to Blog for Buellton

Welcome to the Blog for Buellton. Comment on posts by others, or create your own. To post, please e-mail jpowell@usc.edu and I will "invite" you, which will add you to the list of those allowed to post rather than to comment only.

You will need a Google account, which is easy to acquire and worth having: go to https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount.

No topic is off limits, but posts should be worded with respect for others and have relevance to Buellton. Posts with inappropriate language will be deleted immediately.

Please help us launch Blog for Buellton as a way of building community and sharing our ideas and hopes for our city.

Thank you for blogging.

The Buellton City Council did itself proud at their recent meeting on February 26. The Council reversed an ordinance passed last December, which would have significantly increased housing density in mixed-use zoned areas. Responding to sentiments articulated by confused and frustrated residents, the Council also turned a corner by agreeing to take a comprehensive look — even if they need to work on Saturdays — at all of the City's zoning regulations. A comprehensive look will ensure that Buellton does not suffer from piecemeal development and over-densification. Community workshops have been promised to help us understand how Buellton is currently zoned and solicit our feedback so together we can forge a community vision that includes a reasonable and workable zoning framework.

I am glad to see some comments and response to my blog. Some of the answers to your questions are:1.) Jonata Park Road is named after Jonata Park which is now the Pistol and Bow Club. At one time it was a fire station, then converted to a park which turned out to have water problems.
2.)The Avenue of Flags, including the median is owned by the City of Buellton so it can be recreated however agreed upon .
3.) Redevelopment kind of lost it's steam on AOF when speculators bought up most of it and put outlandish prices on several parcels. It was like holding the City hostage. However it is still a top priority with the City. Moving the Post Office, library, visitors bureau and even a small museum to 2nd Street and the AOF now makes more sense then ever! With this economy, now is a good time for the City to acquire land to do so.
I was a contributor to Cal-Ed study and I do believe we need to protect our M zoning, which is Industrial property. Jobs need to be created for the residents of Buellton to eliminate all the commuting.

I would like to see the Post Office, Library and Visitors Bureau relocated to the Avenud of Flags and 2nd Street. This would truly create a downtown synergy because everyone would be going there every day. It would relieve the traffic on Hiway 246 and place it downtown where it is needed to attract new businesses. If you placed a Stop sign on the Avenue of Second street in both directions, it would slow the traffic down and allow more pedestrian movement for safety. It is my opinion that the Southbound offramp at the North end of town is highly dangerous and should possibly be moved further North to the City's Northern Boundary making Jonata Park road the new offramp. As it is now, traffic comes off the Northern offramp and does not slow down as it enters our downtown. Engineering needs to spent on a solution to this problem.
As far as growth goes, I think it is beneficial for the health of our city if it is controled and attractive. It was not more than 16 years ago that Buellton did not have one park, landscaped entryways, great police protection, or well maintained roads. We have come a long way from that day and I believe we have just begun if more concerned residents come to meetings and help direct our leadership in what we all want. When we become passive as has happened in the last few years, the leadership has to make uninformed decisions many times due to the lack of comments from the residents. I hope to see more of you blogging soon.

But when peace restores the automobile to the family man and honeymooning couple, they will know [the journey from Santa Barbara to San Francisco] again as most travelers have known it, as 360 of the loveliest miles of the American landscape. You follow the ocean to Gaviota, and high away on your right are the violet Santa Ynez Mountains trenched with deep purple shadows. On your left are fine bean and walnut farms carpeting down to the edge of the cliffs over the sea. And the highway runs between poplars. Then you go north through a high pass and climbing up the mountains watch the afternoon light break up the smooth green contours of the morning, till the mountains break and fold into all the violent shapes, the fierce blue valleys that have made every afternoon for thousands of years. Occasionally, you see something glisten from the brushwood like the snout of a puppy. It is anti-aircraft guns again. On a narrow plateau with your back against the hard mountains and your face toward the silver Pacific, you can see islands like mirages floating above low clouds.

Though Buellton has been a city for 16 years, we — as a community — have yet to articulate a vision that helps our city officials set civic priorities and guide us into the future. Each of the City Council candidates, who ran in fall election, stated their interest in redeveloping the Avenue of Flags as their highest priority. They also mentioned the desire to involve the community in determining a theme that would reflect what Buellton is becoming.

I grew up in a small town about the size of Buellton. Mountains surrounded my little home town, as they do Buellton, and that is one reason I love both. Being able to lift my gaze and see the San Rafaels keeps me in touch with the precious natural beauty of our state and our planet. We may not be able to "have it all," but Buellton brings it close.

One measure of how committed citizens are to our democratic form of government is how many go to the trouble of participating in elections. On that measure, Buellton's voters come off very well indeed. As of Election Day, Buellton had 2,446 registered voters. Of that total, 2,072 voted for or against Measure E, and almost as many voted for or against Measure F. The total for Measure E represents 85% of registered voters. That is an extraordinarily high percentage of participation and shows how actively engaged Buellton residents can be in issues that affect them and our community. Whether each of us was for or against a particular item on the ballot, we can all take pride in this evidence that Buellton residents care. That bodes well for the future of our city.

Welcome to the Blog for Buellton. Comment on posts by others, or create your own. To post, please e-mail jpowell@usc.edu and I will "invite" you, which will add you to the list of those allowed to post rather than to comment only.

You will need a Google account, which is easy to acquire and worth having: go to https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount.

No topic is off limits, but posts should be worded with respect for others and have relevance to Buellton. Posts with inappropriate language will be deleted immediately.

Please help us launch Blog for Buellton as a way of building community and sharing our ideas and hopes for our city.

Thank you for blogging.