NEW PROJECT FOCUSES ON SANTA BARBARA COUNTY'S GAVIOTA COAST

Background

Under Santa Barbara County’s current zoning there is significant potential for new development on the GAVIOTA COAST (GC), which will result in a significant loss of open space and inevitably of the biodiversity which distinguishes this region. The Naples (Santa Barbara Ranch) project, located two miles beyond the City boundary of Santa Barbara’s suburb of Goleta, has recently been permitted for the construction of 71 estate homes, an equestrian center, and supporting infrastructure. If built out, this project will likely begin the transformation of the GC into an urbanized area rather than a rare natural landscape. Applications for another 112 residences are already pending on the GC, in addition to about twenty proposals for creation of new lots and lot-line adjustments which are likely precursors to residential development proposals. Large parcels, long held for ranching or agriculture by families, are increasingly being sold to investors and developers.

The GC is one of the premier “hot spots” for threatened biodiversity in the world. According to the U.S. National Park Service (USNPS), the GC includes two of the most biologically diverse ecoregions in the world and some of the highest concentrations globally-important, rare species in the Country. Of the approximately 1,400 plant and animal species estimated to exist within [GC], there are 24 federally- or state-listed threatened or endangered plant and animal species and another 60 considered rare or of special concern. [See Attachment 1 for a list of species of concern.] This fertile coastal plain and its adjacent foothills cover approximately 100,000 acres, and support a rich variety of agricultural and ranching operations on land that has, in many cases, been family held for generations.

In 2004, the USNPS conducted a comprehensive study of the GC and concluded that the quality and scope of GC’s natural and cultural resources qualify it for inclusion in the National Park system. But because of the preponderance of private land in the area, the USNPS found that it would not be feasible to add Gaviota to the National Park System at that time. Instead, the Park Service suggested (inter alia) that landowners and the County of Santa Barbara create programs, regulations, and incentives to protect and preserve the significant biodiversity of the area.

The GC faces immediate threats of significant development which will threaten not only the rural character of this land, but will likely threaten its biodiversity. Two major planning initiatives have begun in Santa Barbara County which has the potential to effectively address these issues. The GC includes at least 38 coastal watersheds which include some of the last remaining healthy habitat for steelhead trout and other threatened and endangered species, see map at: http://longrange.sbcountyplanning.org/planareas/gaviota/documents/GaviotaPlan_Watersheds.pdf

The County has created the Gaviota Rural Regional Planning (GRRP) process and named it as one of the highest priority projects for the county’s Long Range Planning Division in 2009-11. This planning process is designed to bring landowners, government and environmental advocates together to find mutually acceptable management policies for this irreplaceable region. Currently lacking any specific or effective County planning tools for Gaviota, and working from an outdated Local Coastal Plan (certified in 1981), much of the GC’s sensitive wildlife and untouched lands are at risk and could be lost forever to development. The goal of the GRRP is to maintain and improve existing rural land zoning designations by tightening definitions and strengthening the Local Coastal Plan (LCP), General Plan policies, biological thresholds and other policies for the GC. Although the County has assigned planning staff to this task, there is little or no available funding to conduct biological studies or collect scientific data with which to inform this important process.

The GRRP will include the use of a Gaviota Planning Advisory Council or GavPAC that will be selected in early October 2009 by Supervisor Doreen Farr of the Third District. The GavPAC will include a series of public hearings in support of the GRRP. The promulgation of mutually agreed upon regulations to prevent developments that will threaten or impact the biodiversity of the area is, perhaps, the only sustainable method of managing the natural resources of the GC, short of acquisition of the entire region, which is currently infeasible. However, reliable data on what threats exist to biodiversity on the GC must be characterized before this process can be effective. Collecting and disseminating that data is the purpose of this request.

The other Long Range Planning Division priority project selected by the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors for the coming year is the creation of a Countywide Climate Action Strategy (CAS). With respect to climate change, the California policy framework requires that counties and cities develop Climate Action Strategies.

The Center’s work that was funded by the Associates Students Coastal Fund this past academic year led to the introduction of a biodiversity conservation strategy in the County’s Climate Action Strategy. The County is currently the only coastal city or county in the State to include such a biodiversity conservation element in their Strategy, which is required by law. The Center’s report entitled Developing Adaptive Policy to Climate Disturbance in Santa Barbara County (published in September 2009) recommended the development of a biodiversity protection measures in the County’s General Plan, and offered a range of diverse policy tools to support better biodiversity conservation. This proposed project would support the report’s recommendations by actively engaging student contribution in a meaningful way to these two planning efforts in the County.