Article taken from the Santa
Barbara News Press
Published with permission
DEVELOPMENT BATTLES
COULD ALTER COASTLINE
Plan for
new design panel may shift control to the north
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
10/01/05
 |
|
| The Ballantyne family has requested a permit to build a 10,034-square-foot home on this Gaviota parcel on Farren Road |  |
The move to decrease the South Coast's control over development on the Gaviota coast has reignited debate over growth along the celebrated rural stretch where 135 new homes have been proposed and more could follow.
Environmentalists and property rights advocates are sharpening their rhetoric after the Board of Supervisors this week voted 3-2 to have the building designs for projects in Gaviota reviewed by a five-member panel based in Solvang, instead of Santa Barbara.
Putting the Gaviota coast -- a slice of old California that remains largely unchanged today -- with the Santa Ynez Valley under a new Central County Board of Architectural Review, composed of mostly North County professionals, has fueled fears that the north's pro-growth image could change the way Gaviota looks.
The architectural review boards monitor the height, color, layout and landscaping of proposed buildings before they head to the county Planning Commission for final approval.
|
|
|
Since it has remained largely unchanged, the area offers a glimpse of old California. |
Critics worry that a pro-development board could tip the scale toward builders at an early stage in the review process, for example, by signing off on rules for homes on hillsides and ridgelines.
"It just puts everybody in line," remarked Gaviota Coast Conservancy spokesman Mike Lunsford. He said architectural review boards, which judge the design quality of proposed projects, often set the tone for decision-makers who review the project later.
Since the mid-1990s, the mostly rural coastline has been the site of numerous fights over plans to install sprawling suburbs and large-scale homes like the kind crowding the Malibu coast.
While Gaviota farmers and ranchers favor being lumped into the central county board, South Coast critics suggest the new panel could drop the county's traditional environmental standards and help developers who want to lay concrete over an area they deem an environmental gem.
 |
|
| Beachgoers enjoy the warm temperatures on the Gaviota coast as a turkey vulture scours a hillside. | |
"We have been the proven advocates for protecting the coast," said 2nd District Supervisor Susan Rose, who voted against the ordinance to split up the countywide design review board into three regional panels for the north and central county areas and the South Coast. The supervisors' second and final reading of the ordinance will occur in November.
"We believe we can do the best," Ms. Rose said.
Environmentalists argue that the Gaviota coast is at a pivotal stage in its history, on the verge of losing its rural character. They point to pending projects like a 73-home development at Naples and a 10,034-square-foot home on land owned by the Ballantyne family, as reasons for vigilance.
They also cite recent changes to the county's Planning and Development Department -- spurred by the new supervisorial majority of North County property rights advocates which convened in January -- to justify their concern with the new panel.
"It's just a bad time to be betting on North County philosophy for protecting the coast," said Mr. Lunsford. "Historically, the conservative North County votes have been pro-development."
Third District Supervisor Brooks Firestone, who carved
 |
|
|
the boundaries for the central county panel, dismisses such arguments as a divisive attitude that fueled the June 2006 vote to split the county.
He has defended the rural Santa Ynez Valley's record on development, and said the new panel may do a better job protecting the coast.
"We just went through an amazing year, resisting a new hotel," Mr. Firestone said, alluding to the Chumash tribe's intention to install a resort on 745 acres owned by Fess Parker.
He contrasted that effort with unsuccessful attempts on the coast to stop the Bacara Resort and Spa and a plan for an RV campground visible from Highway 101 at El Capitan Canyon.
"Are there not two hotels on the Gaviota coast?" he asked rhetorically.
At the heated Board of Supervisors session in Santa Maria, landowners and their representatives praised the new panel, saying they have more in common with the valley.
Other Gaviota coast residents said the direction of the new board will depend on who sits on it.
"That's really where the proof is going to be," said Rancho Embarcadero neighborhood resident Joan Bolton. "(The panel) is not on most people's radar screens."
Meanwhile, Mr. Firestone has pledged to hold the line on housing projects visible from Highway 101. He says he would oppose them if they came before supervisors on appeal.
But that's still not enough for some South Coast residents who argue that the semi-urban nature of the proposals would make the South Coast professionals a more appropriate review panel.
"People to the east of the Gaviota coast relate to it as a part of their community," said Goleta City Councilwoman Margaret Connell, who called Gaviota a "community of interest" due to its unique resources.
Robin Donaldson, who chairs the nine-member countywide panel that will be reduced to seven members under the plan, is careful not to label members of the new panel appointed by Mr. Firestone as pro-growth, but the Santa Barbara-based architect is clearly alarmed.
"You have something that's unknown," Mr. Donaldson said. "I'm concerned because it's unknown."
e-mail: bmcmanigal@newspress.com
MIKE ELIASON / NEWS-PRESS PHOTO