VILLAGE BEAT (Continued from page 12)
Brilliant Thoughts
along,” Dayton said. “With seven parklets along Coast Village Road, it shows, or at least gives the perception, that business is thriving out here, which is what we need right now,” he added.
by Ashleigh Brilliant Born London, 1933. Mother Canadian. Father a British civil servant. World War II childhood spent mostly in Toronto and Washington, D.C. Berkeley PhD. in American History, 1964. Living in Santa Barbara since 1973. No children. Best-known for his illustrated epigrams, called “Pot-Shots”, now a series of 10,000. Email ashleigh@west.net or visit www.ashleighbrilliant.com
Seek and Ye Shall Find
O
ne of the most famous lines of all poetry (originally written in Persian a millennium ago, but first translated into English in 1859) comes from a book called the Rubaiyat, and is about a “moving finger,” which “writes, and, having writ, moves on” – and nothing we can do can bring that finger back, to erase or change anything. That particular digit is, of course, the notorious Finger of Fate. But the poet, Omar Khayyam, and even his relatively modern translator, Edward Fitzgerald, were both living in the immeasurably long eon before there were computers. In our own time, it is only too easy to revise or delete what our own fingers have written. In fact, my own favorite command (imagine, Omar, giving “commands” to your “moving finger”!) is “UNDO.” But, of all the wonders which can be performed by computers – and even more miraculous to me than “UNDO” – it is the capacity to “Search” and “Find” which ranks at the top of my personal list of manmade marvels. People who’ve grown up in the computer age, and have no memory of the “good old days,” can hardly imagine how much easier and faster what we used to call doing “research” has become. It might have taken weeks, or longer, to track down a single fact which is now freely available in response to a few keystrokes. Books, papers, libraries, card catalogs – these were the sources – possibly widely scattered – in which you had to dig to find what you were looking for. Now – except for those greedy souls who seek to exploit such wonders for their own profit, by devising ways to charge for it – information, or “data,” has become the cheapest and most abundant commodity in the world. But, if only it were as easy to search our own brains as it is to search the brains of our computers! I’m sure all the world’s technical geniuses are working on it – but right now, there’s no way we can issue commands to the extremely powerful thinking machines within our own skulls in the same easy way we can control our computers. There are no “SEARCH” or “FIND” commands which that mysterious object in my head understands, or will respond to almost instantaneously, the way that 9 – 16 July 2020
almost equally mysterious little box does – the one I can hold in my hand. When Jesus, in his “Sermon on the Mount” (as reported by Mathew) told us to “Seek, and ye shall find,” the injunction was inspirational, not a guarantee. But the theme of searching permeates our culture. Some famous stories even involve the search for a secret password. A good example is the so-called fairytale, collected by the Brothers Grimm, called “Rumpelstiltskin,” which concerns the knowledge of how to spin straw into gold. That knowledge is possessed by an imp-like creature, who is nameless all through the story, until the climax, which hinges upon discovering his name. But Saint Mathew – and even the Grimms – would probably be astonished to know that we now have something called a “Search Engine.” Just who invented that term I have been unable to discover – but the thing itself can be traced back no farther than 1990. Yes! Before 1990, all searches had to be conducted without engines. That includes the wellknown searches for the Holy Grail, for the Fountain of Youth, for El Dorado – even for the White Whale and the Northwest Passage – to say nothing of the tragic searches for lost explorers, like Sir John Franklin, who disappeared with his whole crew in the Arctic in 1847, but whose wife spent the rest of her own life organizing futile expeditions to look for him. And meanwhile, all over the world, hunters, both human and animal, seek their prey. Children are playing games based on searches, such as Hide and Seek, Blind Man’s Buff, Hunt the Thimble, and Button, Button, Who’s Got the Button; Geologists roam the Earth in search of oil and ores; Botanists seek new species, MicroBiologists probe the secrets of the genome, in quest of new ways to prolong human life; Archaeologists dig for keys to the human past; Spiritualists seek to establish contact with those who have died; and Astronomers have a whole Universe to search for all that is still unknown. And to cap it all, people everywhere are seeking inwardly. As one writer put it (whom modesty forbids me to name): “I’m in search of myself – Have you seen me anywhere?“
•MJ
Board of Supervisors Denies Helipad Appeal
At a hearing on Tuesday, July 7, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors denied Summerland resident Pat Nesbitt’s appeal to obtain a Conditional Use Permit for a private helicopter pad on his 20-acre property located on Via Real. The appeal was denied with a 3-2 vote. Over a dozen nearby residents and neighbors spoke out against the project at Tuesday’s hearing, joining a long list of nearly 200 residents and groups who have opposed the project, citing incompatibility with the surrounding residential neighborhoods. Groups in opposition to the project include the Carpinteria Valley Association, Padaro Lane Association, Summerland Citizens Association, Montecito Association, Montecito Trails Foundation, Citizen’s Planning Association, and others. The project came about last summer, when Nesbitt, who has admitted that he’s flown helicopters onto and from his property for over two decades without permission, originally sought a CUP for a helistop with two landing zones to be used for personal use and emergency services. A more modest project was in front of the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission in September, which included just one pad in the center of his property. The permit would limit the personal use of the helistop to a maximum of two times per week between the hours of 7 am and 7 pm – which was originally proposed as 9 pm – and per the staff report, his helicopters will take the ocean route as opposed to the mountain route in order to avoid any potential disturbance to nearby residences. Frequency of use of the pad for emergency services would be on an as-needed basis, according to the staff report. Opponents to the project have voiced concern over the helipad’s close proximity to residential homes, nearby horse and bicycle trails, and a nearby environmentally sensitive habitat. Nesbitt argues that there are hundreds of helicopter flights over the area each year, and his request to add two flights per week would not significantly disturb the peace and quiet of the neighborhood. “Helicopters flying to and from my property do not fly over Santa Barbara residents,” he said, insisting that his helicopter flies 1/4-
• The Voice of the Village •
mile off shore. County counsel on Tuesday reiterated to the Board that despite Nesbitt’s promise to use a flight path over the ocean, flight pattern regulation and airport noise are in the jurisdiction of the FAA, and not enforceable by the County. The Santa Barbara County Planning Commission, at a subsequent hearing in November, cited inconsistency with the Summerland Community Plan and the Comprehensive Plan as reasons for denial, due to the loud, percussive nature of noise caused by helicopter take offs and landings. The Commission also noted the noise caused by helicopters would be detrimental to the surrounding neighborhood, adjacent trails, and nearby monarch butterfly roosting habitats. “This is for the convenience of one individual, on one property, that is listed for sale,” said attorney Marc Chytilo, representing two groups in opposition to the permit. Nesbitt’s property, which includes a 43,000sq-ft home with 11 bedrooms and 22 bathrooms, is currently listed for sale for $55 million. Nesbitt said he plans on building another house next door, and maintaining the rights to the helipad should the property sell. The appeal was denied with a 3-2 vote, with Fourth District Supervisor Peter Adam and Fifth District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino dissenting. Supervisor Adam called the opposition to the project a “First World problem,” and said it would be very unreasonable to deny the project. Supervisor Lavagnino agreed, saying, “The public comments seem disconnected to what the project is. I can’t imagine it can be more than a couple of minutes worth of intrusion into someone’s life a couple of times a week. You know, sometimes that’s what living in society is,” he said. “It almost feels like [Nesbitt is being] penalized because he can afford to do it.” Supervisors Das Williams, Gregg Hart, and Joan Hartmann voted in favor of denial of the appeal, citing incompatibility with the surrounding area. “The only way it’s compatible is if the flight path is binding, and we can’t enforce that binding,” said First District Supervisor Williams, adding that he sympathizes with Nesbitt and appreciates that he stepped up to apply for a permit, while many other neighbors land helicopters without permission. Supervisors Hart and Hartmann both agreed the project would set a bad precedent. “Santa Barbara Airport is twenty minutes away. It’s agricultural land, but not an agricultural helicopter,” Supervisor Hartmann said. “I don’t think it’s in the best interest of the community at large,” Supervisor Hart said. •MJ MONTECITO JOURNAL
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