Dave King gives State of the City address, highlights upcoming development projects, economic condition
Buellton Mayor Dave King gave his annual State of the City address on Thursday, July 11, at the Santa Ynez Valley Marriott and, fortunately he had some good news to share.
“The theme of this year’s address is that ‘We are going places,'” King said after introducing many City Council and staff members in the audience. He introduced City Manager Scott Wolfe as the man who “keeps us out of trouble” and praised recently retired Planning Department Secretary Clare Barcelona, who King said “knew more about the City of Buellton than I’ll ever know.”
He then talked about some of the things Buellton had on its journey to “going places.”
The mayor started off by mentioned the capital projects the city had built or were getting ready to build. Among them were upcoming apartment complexes near Firestone Walker Brewing Company, Albertson’s supermarket, and Tractor Supply Company. King said the construction of those complexes should satisfy the state housing mandates.
However, King was especially enthusiastic about the projects that would benefit youth and families. He mentioned a canopy-like structure over the playground at Village Park that was recently completed and allows kids to use the play equipment in the shade during the hotter times of the year, as well as a new inclusive swing set.
King also expressed optimism toward the development of the Waypoint Center, a proposed bowling alley and entertainment center proposed for the lot behind Steve’s Tire and Auto Repair on Highway 246 and east of the Albertson’s shopping center.
“When I moved here in 2004, I immediately noticed there wasn’t anything for kids to do in this town. Hopefully this will be one of them,” King said to applause.
The mayor alluded to other positive developments, like getting two CHP motorcycle officers on Highway 246 to discourage speeding, community events like the BBQ Bonanza (which is coming on July 27) and Fall Fest, and a $425,000 state grant the city received for the Santa Ynez Regional River Trail Project, which is meant as an alternate path for horse and bike riders to go from Buellton to Solvang, and maybe even beyond.
“This has been a project that [former Buellton mayor] Holly Sierra and I have been working on for awhile,” King said. “The trail is intended to reach Solvang, and we’re going to try to get it all the way to Highway 154. This would be a good thing, because I wouldn’t take an 8-year-old on his bike down [Highway] 246.”
King then broke down the city’s economy pointing to a pie chart on the screen showing where the money is going — the general fund showed a balance of $9.5 million.
“If you look on there, you see we have almost $10 million in our general fund, which is pretty good for a town of 5,000,” he said.
From that, King identified the biggest challenges Buellton had facing it, none of which are exclusive to the city.
“Inflation, weak economy, and state mandates, but then, every city, state, and the nation as a whole are dealing with that,” he said.
For the city to tackle those challenges, King pointed to a couple of measures that will be before city voters on Nov. 5.
The first is Measure C, which would amend the city’s General Plan to expand the Urban Growth Boundary, give the city the option to extend the city limits up to 123 acres.
“Passing this measure will allow to keep control on what can be built in this city,” King said. “Mainly, so we can keep control and prevent anyone from building any high-rises here.”
The second is Measure D, which would increase the city’s Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) from 12 percent to 14 percent. The tax, of course, would be levied on those staying in Buellton’s hotels.
“This is not going to be paid by the residents of the City of Buellton. This would be people that come to visit here and stay in our hotels,” said the mayor, who pointed out that the increase would give the city an additional $600,000 a year.
At the end of last year’s State of the City address, King summed up his speech with his answer to how Buellton’s doing, saying “Damn good.” This year, he replaced that answer with “Better than ever.”
The State of the City event was marked by the annual announcement of two awards: the Beautification Award and the Vincent B. Evans Award.
The Beautification Award is given to a local business that, in the words of event emcee and Buellton Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kathy Vreeland “is awarded to the business that … has just put a lot into their business to beautify it, to make it look nice, and to just make us proud.”
She then presented the award to Vega Vineyards, located on Santa Rosa Road in Buellton. Vega owners Jimmy and Karen Loizides were on hand to accept the award.
“Thank you so much for this. This means a lot to us because we have put our heart and soul into it,” said Jimmy Loizides. “We’ve put everything we have and we owned into this property, so it’s been a labor of love that seems to be working.”
Next, the Vincent B. Evans Award, given to “recognize an individual in this community who has given all of themselves and really carries Buellton in their heart,” according to Vreeland. The award is named after Vincent B. Evans, who owned Pea Soup Andersen’s restaurant and was a pillar in the community.
Buellton City Councilmember John Sanchez was named the recipient of the award. Before serving on the City Council and a number of city committees and organizations, Sanchez spent 37 years as an employee of the city.
“I’m really honored to get this, because when I came to Buellton, I had people tell me stories about Vincent B. Evans,” Sanchez said. “They told me Evans really changed Buellton, and to have my name on this award and be a part of that history is something.”
