President's Letter, Autumn 2016

Wins and Losses

Local Efforts Help Protect Gaviota Coast, While Presidential Election Raises Concerns

It’s been an interesting Fall on the Gaviota Coast. After seven years and 130 public meetings, the Board of Supervisors approved the Gaviota Coast Plan, which establishes forward-looking strategies to balance protection of the many environmentally sensitive areas of the Gaviota Coast, preservation of viable agriculture, and development. The Conservancy’s former President, Phil McKenna, and Board member Guner Tautrim (who is the 6th generation of his family to farm and ranch on the Gaviota Coast), served as a members of the Gaviota Planning Area Committee and helped create the Plan and shepherd it through the long public participation process.

We also saw the resolution of the Paradiso proposed project to develop two residential lots on the eastern Gaviota Coast. The Conservancy has been part of a decades-long fight over the project, and without staunch advocacy, it would now be a golf course in a very visible portion of Coast.

We successfully fought for and won:

interim access to the Seals Trail and to the beach until a permanent trail is available;
a ban on extending the water pipeline onto Naples;
as well as protection and monitoring of white-tailed kites and seals and sea lions that use the beach below the Paradiso bluffs as a haul out and rookery.

The two Paradiso lots were recently put up for sale and join the three other coastal properties on the eastern Gaviota Coast that are on the market: Las Varas Ranch, the coastal portions of Dos Pueblos Ranch, and Santa Barbara Ranch. This presents a potential opportunity for permanent protection from development for significant portions of the Gaviota Coast that are closest to an urban population. Gaviota Coast Conservancy will explore a wide range of options for protecting this rural habitat within 20 minutes of downtown Santa Barbara, Goleta, and the University.

In 2017, the Conservancy will continue to be an advocate for protecting the Gaviota Coast, raising critical issues of concern over the flawed project at the Tajiguas Landfill, as well as the proposal for seven more homes on Naples lots. And we will continue our work with landowners who share our vision for a rural Gaviota Coast, and who want to expand coastal access opportunities.

The recent presidential election does not bode well for environmental protection at the federal level. It reminds us that we can protect the places we love when committed individuals and communities take a stand at the local level. It is up to all of us to be vigilant and strategic advocates for the Gaviota Coast.