Big Vote on Noleta’s Future

The seemingly unending community debate over what the Eastern Goleta Valley should look like in 20 years jumped a high hurdle last Wednesday, when the County of Santa Barbara Planning Commission approved their version of the plan at the conclusion of the 45th public hearing on the topic, thereby sending it off to the Board of Supervisors for a final decision, tentatively scheduled for February 7, 2012. Though the plan covered everything from noise to public safety, the land use component proved most controversial, as residents argued loudly about preserving farmland, but the commissioners were told by the state to incorporate the potential for high density housing. Last week’s vote preserved 455 of 478 total acres of farmland, but opened 29 total acres to be studied as possible residential development. It also did away with the idea of allowing farmers some secondary uses of their land, such as produce stores, packing facilities, and inns.

But most alarmingly to those following the process, the commissioners’ vote seemed to make it easier to convert Noleta’s ag land into other uses. “It strips tons of protections that were in the 1993 plan,” said Kenan Ezal, who is the vice chair of the Goleta Valley Planning Advisory Committee, which designed the draft of the community plan that the Planning Commission altered over the past seven meetings. Specifically, the old plan forced the county to make “findings” that the proposed conversion was necessary, but the new one simply says that ag land should be preserved “to the greatest extent feasible.” Explained Ezal, “There was no rationale put forth as to why the findings part was taken out. I’m concerned about that process. That’s precisely why people are so mistrustful of county staff … . These kinds of recommendations occur literally overnight.” He would have preferred that the county addressed those type of language changes as well as the late demand for new housing through the GVPAC process. “It’s a very different policy now,” he said.

Barb Kloos, who founded the Eastern Goleta Valley Coalition to better protect these ag lands, was also less than satisifed with the vote, explaining that her organization’s campaign of letter writing, public commenting, and meeting with county staff and elected officials really just amounted to “damage control.” Said Kloos, “If we had not turned out en masse to do what we did, we would have probably been looking at 50 to 100 more acres that they would have studied for high density housing … . It was just a bloody battle.” She believes that county staff are pushing for smart growth principles that just don’t fit with the Eastern Goleta Valley’s semi-rural settng. “They are just trying to cram that into our area and force it down our throats,” said Kloos, who is planning to meet with every supervisor before the board votes next year.