Several years ago the County of Santa Barbara began working
on the Santa Ynez Community Plan.
As concerned citizens, many of us formed or joined local
community groups to voice our viewpoints and protect our valley from careless
and destructive land use policies. While growth is inevitable, it should be
done in a smart way, keeping the integrity of our valley by protecting its
agricultural lands and the pristine beauty of each individual community.
The board of supervisors soon will be considering land use
policies during the final stage of adopting the Santa Ynez
Community Plan. Once these policies are adopted, we will have a blueprint to
follow for rezoning, land use changes, etc. Over the past few years countless
hours of public testimony have gone into this final draft of the community
plan; many of our community members have spent a great deal of time and energy
on this plan and have had a substantial impact on its proposed policies.
Last week, however, I received a notice from the Santa
Barbara County Office of Long Range Planning regarding another surprise public
hearing. This notice states:
“The purpose of the public hearing is to reconsider and
clarify the existing procedure and propose acceptance of general plan
amendments and/or rezones prior to adoption of the Santa Ynez
Valley Community Plan if the proposed project is found to be consistent with
the Draft Santa Ynez Valley Community Plan and/or
provides a public benefit.”
In other words, they propose to rezone one or more parcels
prior to the adoption of that Santa Ynez Valley
Community Plan. How can the planning department, the planning commission or the
board of supervisors decide what is consistent with
the Draft Santa Ynez Community Plan when it has not been
completed or adopted yet? There is more than one option for consideration on
all the land use issues in the plan -- so how do they
know which option will be chosen? If the county grants this exception and
grants a rezoning request before waiting for the completion of the plan, where
will it stop? Who will want the next amendment, and the next one? And
furthermore, who gets to decide who gets the exception and who doesn’t? The
community plan is just that, the community’s plan, and it should be honored upon
its completion, which is just around the corner. Why have a
plan at all if these kinds of exceptions are allowed in the Santa Ynez Valley?
I think that rezoning property in the valley before the
Community Plan is even adopted is another attempt to circumvent the plan and
will set a dangerous precedent if it passes. In order for land use actions to
be consistent with the Santa Ynez Community Plan,
there needs to be a plan with which to be consistent.
I also think, since we are this close to concluding it, that
unless there is some dire emergency that requires a rezoning, it should wait
until we have this road map to follow. The final community plan will reflect
the people’s vision of the future of the valley, and the county should respect
this process and stop these sidebar attempts to get around it.
What
do you think?
For more information, contact Derek Johnson, Project
Manager, (805) 568-2072. djjohnson@sbcao.org or County
of Santa Barbara Office of Long Range Planning, 30 E. Figueroa Street, Santa Barbara,
CA 93101.