Article taken from the Santa
Barbara News Press 'Monster' home plans approved
on Gaviota coast By
MELINDA BURNS 05/26/05
The largest home ever to be proposed for the Gaviota coast -- a two-story, 10,370-square-foot house that would be visible from Highway 101 -- was approved by the county Planning Commission on Wednesday, a decision opponents said would open the door to mansion-building in the rolling ranchlands west of Goleta. The house, plus a four-car garage, pool cabana, guesthouse and barn, is planned for a 106-acre hillside on the north side of the freeway at Rancho Tajiguas, halfway between the county landfill and Refugio State Beach. In a 3-2 vote, the commission said the size of the house did not matter, for it would be largely obscured by surrounding ridgelines. "Do I think it's ostentatious? Yes," said Chairman Jack Boysen, who represents the Santa Maria Valley. "There's going to be a lot of people who look at that house the same way they look at Hummer drivers. But I can't be the one to make the judgment whether it's good or bad. It's their right." Mike Lunsford, president of Gaviota Coast Conservancy, said Wednesday that the preservationist group would appeal the commission's vote to the county Board of Supervisors. Mr. Lunsford said the house was a "monster" that would be visible from three miles away. He noted that it was 6 feet higher than what county rules normally allow, and he said it would threaten the future of ranching on the coast, where most of the land is zoned for agriculture. "This whole thing is a matter of scale," Mr. Lunsford said. "It's going to take us down the wrong road." According to a conservancy study, the average size of homes on the Gaviota coast is 2,850 square feet, with new homes averaging 4,100 square feet. Anything more than 5,000 square feet, Mr. Lunsford said, would be out of character. Wednesday's hearing was the latest in what is shaping up to be a project-by-project showdown over the future of the Gaviota coast. Following the recent failure of the conservancy's campaign to win a national park designation for the region, landowners have submitted proposals that could result in as many as 120 homes between Goleta and El Capitan State Beach. West of El Capitan, Rancho Tajiguas has 24 legal lots. The owners, members of a Swiss family living in Europe, have already submitted plans for a second large home there. The county, meanwhile, has never drawn up a general plan for the coast west of Goleta, an area determined by the National Park Service to be "globally significant" for its plant and animal diversity. Before Wednesday's hearing, the attorneys for Rancho Tajiguas sent a letter to the county asking that Commissioner Marc McGinnes disqualify himself from voting on the house plans. As a former adviser to the conservancy, his vote would probably be biased, the letter said. But Mr. McGinnes refused to disqualify himself Wednesday, saying he had never been part of the conservancy's policy deliberations. He said he resigned from his advisory position upon joining the commission in February. In voting Wednesday to approve the first house at Rancho Tajiguas, Commissioner Parker Montgomery, who represents the Santa Ynez Valley and Isla Vista, said he did not intend to set a precedent and noted that the owners followed all the rules and deserved to be treated fairly. Commissioner Joe Valencia, who represents the Lompoc Valley, concurred, saying the house should be painted a color that would blend in with the hills -- definitely not white or pink. Mr. McGinnes and Michael Cooney, both representing the South Coast, voted against the plans. They said the house would be trend-setting and should undergo environmental review. "Why would you want to build the largest house on the Gaviota Coast?" Mr. McGinnes asked. John Vallance, vice president of MAZ Properties, the Los Angeles-based firm that represents Rancho Tajiguas, replied, "This particular family is used to having quite a few ancillary uses in their home." Mr. McGinnes said he regarded the family's plans as an intrusion. "I don't think it's fair to the public in general to have to accept the immodest wishes of a family of wealth to place themselves on a ridge and expect the rest of us to look at it." he said. "That's an attitude that is very destructive." |