Article taken from the
Santa Barbara News Press
Mesa
protection seeks $6 million by June 30 4/21/03
These are exciting times in our community. After years of effort to stop building on the Ellwood Mesa, by countless individuals and groups, the Trust for Public Land stepped forward, worked with the property owner and the city of Goleta, giving us the opportunity to protect the mesa forever. The highly respected TPL is locally and nationally known for its success in saving special places. TPL has partnered with the Friends of the Ellwood Coast to ensure the campaign is successful, and we need readers' help. Local people and visitors who love the mesa need to raise $6 million by June 30. It sounds like a lot of money, but FOTEC is focused on making it happen, and we're on our way. We're fortunate that the Goleta Valley Land Trust has announced a challenge grant that will match donations up to $500,000. In the meantime, TPL is working to raise the remainder of the total of $20.4 million needed to compensate the owner for the unequal value of the swapped parcel. With all the news coverage on the land swap, some have assumed the threat of development had been stopped. This is not the case. The original, approved development plan with luxury homes on the Mesa is still a real possibility. Check the FOTEC Web site, http://www.fotec.org/, for information., including the many opportunities for recognition of donors contributing specific dollar amounts, plus the ability to donate on-line. All contributions are tax deductible. It is time for all of us to give thoughtful consideration to how much an undeveloped Mesa means, and how much more this coastal treasure will mean in the future, when population growth makes the land even more precious. This is a labor of love. Please join us.
Kathy Gebhardt, Goleta
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