Article taken from the Santa
Barbara News Press Ellwood preserve target
in sight By
THOMAS SCHULTZ 12/15/04
Organizers of the push to buy Ellwood Mesa and preserve its open space came within $350,000 of their $20.4 million goal on Tuesday, as Santa Barbara County kicked in another hefty donation hours before today's fund-raising deadline. As they celebrated unanimous Board of Supervisors approval of the $400,000 county contribution, representatives from the nonprofit Trust for Public Land said the remaining deficit would not jeopardize purchase of the bluff top. An extension of the deadline for accepting donations and closing the deal appeared likely, following talks between the trust and developer Bob Comstock, who controls rights to the windswept 137-acre property that features a monarch butterfly habitat along nearly a mile of natural coastline. The trust was poised to bridge the financial gap, if necessary, by loaning the final $350,000 to its own campaign. "We've come this far," said trust spokeswoman Suzanne Moss. "We have to make it happen. Regardless of when, we are going to close. We are confident. We don't anticipate any issues." Today's deadline marks a major milestone in this push, which began in January 2003. Earlier grass-roots efforts to protect the mesa property, recently named the Sperling Preserve, date back two decades. "It looks good, and who would think we'd be this close," said Goleta Councilwoman Cynthia Brock, who lives near the mesa and supported the drive. "It's a miracle."
The grand total, she said, "seemed almost insurmountable in the beginning. Multiple celebrations, I think, will be in order for $20.4 million."
The money is planned for a complex land swap announced in 2002. The trust would buy the property from Comstock Homes and Development Partners, then give it to Goleta as a park that would became a major piece of a larger Ellwood-Devereux Open Space spanning Goleta, county and UCSB land. Goleta in turn would give the developer-owners 36 acres of nearby Santa Barbara Shores Park -- farther from the fragile shore than the Ellwood property -- where Comstock could now build 62 homes. The Comstock housing proposal is expected to go to the state Coastal Commission for consideration next month. Building upon a grant it made last year, the county has contributed $768,000 in coastal protection money generated from offshore drilling, some from excess royalties paid the state and some from mitigation programs. The Goleta Valley Land Trust has kicked in $1 million, and the federal government nearly $800,000. Former Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson, who helped secure $10 million from state coffers while she was in office, has said she anticipates a celebratory picnic on the mesa, but no date has been set. Private donations to date account for $9 million of the total, including a $5 million donation in June 2003 from part-time local residents Peter and Stephanie Sperling. The private total is something representatives from the trust, which last year handled 238 land deals nationally, described as impressive. "About every other day we close a transaction," Ms. Moss said. "Of course they are not all this complicated. This is certainly one of the largest broad-based public fund-raising campaigns we've done. "We've done larger deals, but it was with more government money," she said. "This is an incredible show of private support and commitment. It's just an amazing outpouring."
Santa Barbara, she said, "is pretty infamous, notorious, across the country as being just an amazing community that has opened its hearts and wallets."
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