Nearly 15 upset and angry Mission Canyon residents urged the Santa Barbara City Council to revoke the two granny flat permits City Hall issued to their Arriba Way neighbor Gregg Patronyk, whom they accused of lying on his permit application forms to the city.
According to the neighbors, Patronyk stated he and his mother would occupy the properties on which new granny flats — a k a Accessory Dwelling Units or ADUs — were built. That, they claimed, has never happened. They complained that one of the proposed granny flats would loom 30 feet high on steeply sloped terrain. The amount of grading done, they charged, was far in excess of what the application indicated and what city permits allow without additional review.
The neighbors not only sued Patronyk in court but also obtained a temporary restraining order to force him to stop construction. In addition, the City Attorney’s office has filed a 14-count criminal indictment against Patronyk, mostly for doing construction work without a permit and often in direct violation of stop-work orders. That criminal case is scheduled for arraignment on February 10.