County officials alert Montecito homeowners that they face prosecution, including daily fines of $850 if stones are not removed
County officials alert Montecito homeowners that they face prosecution, including daily fines of $850 if stones are not removed
Montecito, California, is known for being home to Oprah, a former royal family, and a stunning stretch of coastline. It’s also home to miles of trails, some of which are being blocked by residents hoping to stop people from accessing public hot springs.
Santa Barbara county has been watching encroachments on East Mountain Drive and Riven Rock Road in Montecito since at least 2022, when they sent letters to residents warning them to remove large stones.
Last month, county officials sent letters again to at least six homes alerting residents to remove the stones by 28 March or face civil or criminal prosecution, including daily fines of $850. The county insists that these roads are a public right of way.
The issue seems to be with parking at the trailhead, where a tiny lot allows for just eight vehicles. When that fills up, hikers have to park on roadsides. The hot springs contain six bright blue pools that are located 1.3 miles from the trailhead in the San Padres Forest, surrounded by a deep forest and rocky hills. It became popular during the pandemic when hiking surged in the area, and has also taken off on social media as a destination.
I mean the most obvious malicious compliance here would be to make a bus line that runs to the tiny little parking lot at the entrance. Nothing the wealthy hate more than public transportation in their backyard.
a park with a ski hill near where I used to live did this during ski season because the ski hill terminated near the access road. Imo even if they just ran the shuttle on weekends it would probably be cheaper than a lawsuit.
The issue seems to be with parking at the trailhead, where a tiny lot allows for just eight vehicles. When that fills up, hikers have to park on roadsides.
County officials plan to create 62 new parking spots near the trailhead – which caused four homeowners to sue in protest in 2022.
It's a GOOD thing we don't TAX these Wealthy People! Otherwise they might have to give US access to the National Parks we paid for since they won't be able to Afford the Fines!
The courts will be fining these individuals unless the boulders are removed, it's already been decided on. So, to clarify, the mean taxation govment are the ones protecting people from the rich people in this situation.
More like, "we just got paid to not do anything about it". If they wanted those stones cleared they would have brought a fucking excavator, got shit done, and fined the people responsible over $10,000 for the cost of moving them.
It is April 10th, and they say "remove the stones by 28 March or face civil or criminal prosecution". I didn't read anything about real repercussions, did you?
$850/day to someone who owns a house worth an average of $7.2m really isn't much. These people are wealthy beyond belief and can easily pay that penalty. If the punishment for bad behavior is only a fine, then the bad behavior is effectively legal for the rich.
I'm fine with the $850/ day fine for 10 days as long as on the 11th day the public is allowed to attach one of their boulders to a helicopter and drop it on their house.
Montecito has so much money and influence that any freeway construction in the area has to avoid Montecito because they hate the noise and traffic. They are also used to getting their way. They want to be a small town of multimillionaires but the problem is that they are between a big city and a national park.
It became popular during the pandemic when hiking surged in the area, and has also taken off on social media as a destination.
On one hand, fuck those rich people who live there. On the other hand, fuck those assholes that ruin places like this because they want to take pictures for social media.
If it were just people naturally finding these places, that's one thing, but social media seems to fix its gaze like the Eye of Sauron on specific places and suddenly they explode in popularity. The Eye inevitably shifts its gaze elsewhere, and the orcs follow. What's left behind is usually for the locals to clean up.
Idk, it seems like every time there's a patch of flowers near trails I use that eventually some idiot is going to trample all over it looking for a nice photoshoot. If it were simply people visiting these things for enjoyment, there wouldn't be so much destruction left in their wake.
Of course, they didn't have the right to do that, and everyone has the right to visit the place. The problem is that when too many people visit somewhere, then it ruins the experience. It leads the place getting destroyed or permit lotteries.
Or you might wanna take a look at the big yellow double arch natural stone carving McDonald's stone ad! Para pa pa pa! I'm loving it!.... Drink responsibility....come frutas y verduras. For every one minute you stare at the rock, McDonald's will donate 1 mcflurry to a homeless person nearby. All you have to do is scan the code at the bottom of the rock, attach your GPS coordinates and heading angle, pitch and jaw, then fill in the form with your name and address, print it out, sign it, and mail it to 1800 Elm St. Zaragoza California 92322. Then just wait two to three weeks and invite your favorite homeless person. You'll need proof of purchase and a print out of your form that you'll need to sign once more. They may have to as you the form questions again, but don't worry, they are used to doing that, they worked for the DMV before. Enjoy the outdoors and give a homeless a helping hand! And don't forget this form too after you're done with the quickie! He'll enjoy knowing there's someone who cares, and you'll enjoy knowing you cared! Because who cares? You cares!
While I get what you're saying, and fuck them for wanting to hoard public resources, a shuttle here would be less damaging to the area and allow ample parking where it isn't impacting those public resources as much. And if done right, would even allow people without cars to enjoy this resource.
I'm trying to understand the situation, because the article is a little confusing. It doesn't sound like they were actually blocking access to the hot springs. It sounds like they were placing boulders to discourage people from parking along the road leading to the trailhead. There are only a few actual parking spots, and once those fill up people are lining the roads with their cars, possibly damaging private property in the process. I can understand the frustration. Though suing to stop the construction of additional parking seems counter-productive.
Hmmm they're blocking parking on the street and suing to stop making the parking lot bigger than 8 cars. Tell me again how that isn't "rich fucks trying to stop people from accessing the public hot spring"
Well, that's part of why I'm confused. The article doesn't say if it's the same people doing both. It might be completely separate groups. Like maybe one group doesn't want people parking on the side of the road in front of their house, so they placed the boulders. Maybe a completely different group doesn't care about that, but they don't want construction crews making a bunch of noise while they create more parking.
The obstructions in question include large boulders and plants placed along the sides of East Mountain Drive and Riven Rock Road in Montecito, blocking spots people would otherwise be able to use as parking before hiking to nearby Montecito Hot Springs.
The encroachments are on the right of way which allows for only certain encroachments:
the county says that the only encroachments that can remain within 10 feet of the pavement include mature trees and “boulders historically situated onsite and partially buried 40% or more, particularly those boulders adjacent to a buried, high pressure gas line”.
Edit: I don't know why people get so worked up when someone parks on a public street in front of their house. It literally does not compute for me.