Scheduled for June 28, the meeting will include agenda item number seven, which outlines the council to accept the Sphere of Influence Baseline Conditions Report and receive testimony at the public hearing regarding its findings. A Sphere of Influence (SOI) is a plan that outlines physical boundaries and service areas of any given city or district.

 

The council authorized Buellton’s Planning Department to prepare the report in August 2006. It describes and examines Buellton’s current SOI and recommends further study of land outside city boundaries. Following public testimony and a staff report, the council may decide to study various areas recommended in the report.

 

“At this point we’re just asking the City Council if they want to move forward with a study or not,” said Planning Director for Buellton’s Planning Department, Marc P. Bierdzinski. “Part of the process is to plan ahead. They want to have information to decide what they should do and what they want Buellton to look like in the future.”

 

Since the land surrounding Buellton is not currently included in the city’s boundaries, the County of Santa Barbara controls development in the area. This has sparked concern amongst Buellton’s City Council. In response, some council members say they support the report and are willing to explore studying the outside areas because they want to have some control over what may happen in those areas in the future.

 

“I want to gain some control of what does happen in those areas close to the city, I don’t want the County to go in there and put up a new shopping mall just outside our city limits,” said City Council Member Dale Molesworth.

 

“I don’t think [it’s the intention of the council to revise the current Sphere of Influence] at least that’s not my plan,” he added. “It’s more a matter that we want to be able to control what happens in those areas that are close to the city’s boundaries.”

 

Though the report’s findings have not yet been publicly discussed by the council, some community members are already expressing concern, saying that the report implies a plan to revise the city’s current SOI to include land outside the city’s boundary, which would ultimately extend Buellton’s city limits by annexing the surrounding land.

 

“I’m against expanding the Sphere of Influence one square inch,” said Buellton community member and Ex-Planning Commissioner, Mark Preston. “This is all about developing the land out there and for them to say, ‘well we’re not expanding the Sphere of Influence, we’re just studying expansion of the Sphere of Influence’ is absolute nonsense.”

 

John Bowen, president of the Preservation of Santa Ynez, agrees with Preston.

“What [the report] seems to do is outline their goal and target, with the end result being annexation,” Bowen said. “Historically that is what cities do as their first step towards annexation.”

 

“It’s real easy for the Planning Department or the City Council to say ‘hey everybody, lets not worry too much about this, it’s just a study’ but planning starts to base itself on the tentative map. People start buying parcels of land based on the tentative map,” he added. “So I don’t think we should kid ourselves that the City Council or the Planning Department don’t want to move forward with planning.”

 

Currently, Buellton’s SOI is the same as the city’s 960-acre boundary. The report, which was completed in May, 2007, recommends that the council authorize the study of about 2,000 acres outside city limits.

 

Part of the early criticism of the report and the possible future study of areas implicated in the report is about both the size of the recommended study area as well as the impacts any development could have on Buellton’s surrounding cities, like Santa Ynez and Solvang.

 

“One of the questions I would want to present is what compelling reasons does the city of Buellton have to go ahead with this study and how is it going to benefit the rest of the Valley and community?” Bowen said. “This grand increase in size will have a major impact on the surrounding area as well as the Highway 246 corridor. I’m not opposed to growth, but how is the rest of the Valley going to support this kind of growth.”

 

If Buellton wants to look towards the future, wouldn’t it be reasonable to solve and or address some of the problems that could follow first? Bowen added.

 

Council Member Victoria Pointer agrees that traffic and other issues always arise when a city experiences growth, but contended that a study would address some if not all of these issues.

 

“We’ll again, this is a study and all of the homework hasn’t been completed yet,” she said.

 

While some community members expressed concern about the 2,000 acres recommended for further study, Preston is against expansion of Buellton.

 

“Ok, if I wear a size 32 pant and wake up and over night I wear a size 33, am I going to go out and buy a size 37? Or am I going to re-access my lifestyle and try to make changes accordingly?” he said. “The bottom line is that we don’t need to extend the current Sphere of Influence.”

 

Though the report recommends that the council not approve studying areas that border the Santa Ynez River, areas S1 and S2, which is up to the council’s discretion to heed or not, the total area recommended for further study is triple the current size of Buellton. This too has come under scrutiny, but some council members and the Planning Department hold firm to the belief that an expansive area must be studied to yield accurate results.

 

“It’s easier to study a larger area than refine the area as we go along,” Bierdzinski said. “The City Council could say they have enough information or say this is too much area to study, they’re the policy makers.”

 

Pointer shares Bierdzinski’s sentiment about studying such a large area.

“At this point 2,000 acres is appropriate for a study area because when you’re doing a study you want all the facts,” she said.

 

“I would tell you that the council does have the last say on what recommendation comes to them, but the council does try to listen very carefully. This recommendation [to not include lands close to the Santa Ynez River] that came from the Planning Commission will be seriously considered,” Pointer said.

 

The report that the council will be accepting on June 28 is task one of a three-part study. The study includes the discussion of Buellton’s current SOI and could include a possible revision to the SOI to include lands outside the city limits. The council will then make a determination, if any, of which lands to be included in a revised SOI and how those lands will and should be used. The final task would be the completion of an Environmental Impact Report, which would study the impacts development and land use could have on the surrounding areas and communities.

 

The meeting could yield various outcomes. The council could accept all or some of the recommended study area and approve the implementation of a study into those areas. It could also reject the recommendation of a study.

 

“Were going to listen to testimony and may be able to take parts of the study and make decisions, but I don’t think any decision will be made to implement task two or three June 28,” Pointer said.

 

Folks need to know that this is the meeting to voice their concerns and or opinions, she added.

 

All City Council meetings are held at 6 p.m. every second and fourth Thursday of the month at the City Council Chambers, 140 W. Highway 246, Buellton Calif., behind the Post Office in Buellton.

 

For more information about the report or the SOI contact the Planning Department at 805-688-7474 or visit cityofbuellton.com. For more information about the meeting contact City Hall at 805-686-0137.