Santa Barbara to Study Expanding Recreation Facilities

In what might be a major shot in the arm to Santa Barbara’s nascent agritourism industry — from fields to bedsheets — the county supervisors agreed to spend nearly half a million dollars of one-time cannabis revenues on a new countywide recreational master plan — sprawling, creative, and, yes, as was mentioned several times, “unprecedented.” 

Doing the heavy lifting to get the proposal this far was 3rd District Supervisor Joan Hartmann, an avid equestrian with a passionate sense of the possible when it comes to enticing ranchers, farmers, and private property owners to help create new public recreational spaces. But based on the public response from several key stakeholders, not to mention her fellow supervisors, Hartmann might have considerably more heavy lifting to do.

Santa Barbara’s key recreational planning and zoning documents were last modified 42 years ago — in 1980. A lot’s changed in that time; the county’s inventory of park space — regional parks and neighborhood parks — is reportedly lagging well behind the national average. Nationally, there are 10.6 acres of park land per every 1,000 people. In Santa Barbara County, the number is 4.7 acres.