Shoring up local unity on goals for Gaviota

5/2/01

Ada J. Otter

Representing the last remnant of virtually undeveloped and unpreserved coastline in Southern California, the Gaviota coast is a well-established ecological hot spot with a rich cultural history of agricultural land use. Present land-use planning has lent the coast tenuous status as agriculturally zoned land, a status which protects the area from urban development and maintains its agricultural and open space resources.

However, Gaviota coast properties, traditionally managed with a high level of land stewardship, are subject to growing development pressures resulting from an economic climate where land speculation is the only viable way to realize land value.

In response to the increasing intensity of development pressure a deep-seated movement questioning the long-term fate of Gaviota has come to a head recently, spurring public debate over what course of action should be taken.

Should voters pass a SOAR (Save Our Agricultural Resources) initiative to voluntarily lock Gaviota properties in agriculture use, to protect the land from unstable political zoning changes?

Should local conservation groups purchase development rights from willing sellers to create locally managed conservation easements?

If we want to afford the coast a higher degree of protection, should we look to assistance from the federal government?

The common sentiment connecting the vast majority of all these diverse opinions is an agreement that the status quo of coastal management being practiced on the Gaviota coast is inadequate, and hence that the course of no-action is not a viable alternative.

While reasonable minds will debate over the details of Gaviota's management, for the most part we are in agreement that the area is in need of permanent protection to preserve current agricultural and ecological resources, maintain private property rights, and protect the area from encroaching urbanization.

Based on this common ground, the Santa Barbara community has the opportunity to define its own vision for the future of the Gaviota coast, and find a practical method to bring that vision into reality.

We have reached a crossroads in local coastal planning where the future of the Gaviota coastline must be decided and concrete information about our options must be gathered.

To this end, the National Park Service, spurred by vocal public interest, has initiated an analysis of coastal management options as they apply to the Gaviota coast.

Stretching over 76 miles of coastline from Coal Oil Point in Isla Vista to Point Sal at the northern boundary of Vandenberg Air Force Base, the 200,000-acre study area analyzed in the Gaviota coast Seashore Feasibility Study is a watershed-based unit lying entirely within Santa Barbara County.

The two-year study, begun in January 2000, will evaluate the significance of the Gaviota coast's natural, cultural and recreational resources, and determine the suitability and feasibility of bringing the area, or portions of it, under National Park Service management.

More importantly, the study will evaluate a broad range of possible management strategies for protecting the resources of the Gaviota coast, including alternatives that do not involve the Park Service. National seashore designation is only one of many possibilities being explored, and does not follow inevitably from federal involvement in the current exploratory, information gathering process.

Regardless of the conclusions and management recommendations offered up in the completed feasibility study, the study itself is a valuable tool for gathering the information needed for informed public debate and decision-making.

Using the site-specific information analyzed in the study, the Santa Barbara community can better evaluate which management strategies are best suited to local goals.

Given this unique opportunity, the main problem that faces us is reaching a consensus definition of what protecting the Gaviota coast actually means, and then pursuing a coastal protection strategy that reconciles the common goals of protecting existing landowners from development pressures while maintaining the unique coastline in agriculture and open space.

In upcoming months and years, we will be taking definitive actions to determine the future of the Gaviota coast, the consequences of which will shape the character of Santa Barbara County and reflect our values.

It is through community participation and consensus building that local needs will be met and shared visions realized.