What do you think?
On Aug. 22, the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission held a public hearing,
the topic was: Herthel Montanaro
Appeal of Zoning Administrator Approval (ZA). The routine application that the Herthel family was applying for was to move an existing lot
line over. They requested this so that it does not run directly through the
commercial neighborhood parcel where the Herthel family
has so graciously restored the Old Montanaro Store to
its original form, located on the Montanaro Farm in
Los Olivos. This was not an application to build or
subdivide this property but rather a simple paper adjustment that has
absolutely zero environmental affect on this property and the surrounding area.
Should the owners of this property want to build on it in the future then they
must return to the county for the appropriate permits and go through additional
public review. The process in itself seems simple. However, the lot line
adjustment was appealed by the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Tribal
Chairman, Vincent Armenta.
In a nutshell, Armenta, representing the
local Santa Ynez Tribe, was appealing a lot line adjustment that was previously
granted by the
It is my understanding that the chairman has reason to believe that
there may be tribal artifacts within the immediate vicinity of this property.
Does this mean that any neighbor living any where near the Montanero
property should also be subjected to the expense of having archeologists dig
through the dirt if they are also requesting a simple lot line adjustment? In the last 20 years alone there has been at
least 10 new homes, many home additions and countless other land use projects built
within the immediate vicinity of the Montanero Farm
and to my knowledge the Tribe (or should I say the Tribal Leadership) has never
taken this type of posturing before.
I think that Chairman Arementa has no standing to file such an appeal on behalf
of the tribe. Claims of the potential discovery and disturbance of true
“Archeological Artifacts” are a concern to us all. However, in this case it is
simply a mute point given that the land was not being moved in any form or
manner as a result of the granting of this adjustment. I also think that the
action taken by Arementa was not representative of
the vast majority of the Tribe and it is unfortunate that he has so poorly represented
the Santa Ynez tribal community in this manner.
What do you
think?
A copy of
the