Watching the forest of UCSB towers and housing grow on Storke and Phelps Road minus any parking structure and in or adjacent to the Devereux slough makes one wonder just how these abominations were ever permitted. After all, the construction is within the coastal zone and subject to oversight by the vaunted California Coastal Commission.
Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez goes a long way toward explaining the unfettered building. Coastal commissioners are meeting with consultants outside of hearings, staying at villas owned by consultants, and accepting their campaign contributions.
This disgusting betrayal of California’s coastline is orchestrated by McCabe & Company, a consulting firm headed by a former commissioner who greases the wheels for the likes of David Evans (a.k.a. U2 guitarist The Edge) who is building mansions on a pristine ecosystem above Malibu State Beach. UCSB, not surprisingly, employed McCabe & Company to help foist their tax-free monstrosities on Santa Barbara County.