Santa Ynez Valley
Alliance
Women’s Environmental Watch
Preservation of Los Olivos
Preservation of Santa Ynez
Meadowlark Ranches Homeowners
Association
A major
expansion to the Santa Ynez Valley Airport is now moving forward AND it is
moving FAST. A recent decision by County
staff has propelled this project forward, allowing it to be decided in the next
three to four months. As groups
representing hundreds of Valley residents, we believe that it is our responsibility
to educate the public about the breadth of this expansion before it is too
late.
County staff
is currently requiring that only a Negative Declaration (ND), instead of an
Environmental Impact Report (EIR), be prepared on this very complicated
project. As a result, in the next 4 – 6
weeks, the County will issue this ND and hold a public hearing to take input on
the project’s many impacts. It is of
utmost importance that the residents of the Valley understand the potential
impacts that could result from this expansion and that they make their views
heard.
The
Project:
The existing 125-acre airport site currently contains approximately
183,245 sq. ft. of development. Four new
phases are planned, as follows: Phases 1
and 2 would add about 126,015 additional sq. ft. of development, 6 helipads and
a 12,500 sq. ft. parking lot. Phase 3
would add at least another 18,000 sq. ft. of development and 63,500 sq. ft. of
parking, thus almost doubling the existing development on the site. This represents a major expansion of
the airport, not to mention the 500 foot runway extension in Phase 4 which
could result in significantly increased usage by small (very light) private
jets of up to six passengers that do not currently use this airport.
In short, the
issues raised by the project fall into two categories: 1) impacts of the project and 2) the
process.
Significant
Impacts: Given the proposed location of the new
hangars and the helipads, this project will have a significant impact on the
following: 1)
l NOISE—Santa Ynez residents living in
the vicinity of the airport already experience
intolerable noise due
to non-emergency helicopter traffic.
Creating six new helipads on the property will place this airport, in
terms of helicopter capacity, between the John Wayne Airport in Orange County
and the Long Beach Airport. As usage
increases, noise will increase and it will impact everyone, including residents
far from the airport. The new location
of the helipads will also expose people visiting the Gainey
Winery to “excessive noise levels”, thereby adversely impacting that
agricultural operation as a whole. The
Initial Study doesn’t even bother to consider how this proposal will affect
other nearby agricultural operations, such as impacts to horse and cattle
operations. Protection of agriculture is
critical to the protection of the rural character of the Santa Ynez Valley.
l VISUAL—the new hangars will be large
warehouse type structures and will be highly
visible from Highway 246 and will also be
visible from Highway 154, as well as other Valley locations.
Process:
The ND is considering only two of four phases of the planned expansion,
thus limiting the information the public will receive about potential
impacts. In addition, the ND will not
consider the planned Emergency Operations Center being proposed for the
site. The result will be completely
inadequate information on cumulative impacts so critical for public disclosure
and good decision-making, leading to piecemeal development on the property. Furthermore, no alternatives will be analyzed
in the ND as they would be in an EIR.
Santa Barbara County has always had a policy of full disclosure, but now
we are being dealt an incredibly incomplete deck of cards. The community has a right to know the FULL
IMPACTS of the airport expansion.
Unresolved
Issues. Finally, there are many unresolved issues
relating to the former landfill and County road yard on the
site, as well as at least 15,000 cubic yards of unconsolidated fill
brought on to the property from the Casino and the High School, without any
type of permit.
Now is the
time to get involved!! To find out how, please contact one of the organizations
listed below. The shape of this project
is in our hands, but only if we take part in the process.
Women’s Environmental
Watch
wewatch@syv.com
Santa Ynez Valley Alliance
info@santaynezvalleyalliance.org
Preservation
of Los Olivos
info@polosyv.org
Preservation
of Santa Ynez
posyinfo@gmail.com
Meadowlark
Ranches Homeowners Association
mhadley@meadowlarkranches.org