Board of Supervisors Approve Planning and Development Projects

Changes are on the horizon in the Valley stemming from the April 24 County Board of Supervisors meeting, where two agenda items that may potentially affect Santa Ynez and surrounding cities were unanimously approved.

Agenda Item A-9: Environmental Impact Report for the Santa Ynez Valley Community Plan

After nearly a year in the works, the County Planning and Development Department has taken another step towards enacting the Santa Ynez Valley Community Plan (SYVCP). The community plan is an addition to the Santa Barbara County General Plan. The General Plan governs various state regulations controlling land use. The Santa Ynez plan was created to specifically address community concerns surrounding affordable housing, land rezoning, mixed town center uses and protection of rural developments among other issues.

With the Board’s approval, the Office of Long Range Planning will contract Rincon Consultants Inc. to prepare an Environmental Impact Report for the proposed community plan.

“The EIR will provide the Board with an environmental analysis so it can understand the impacts associated with community plan, such as traffic and other potential impacts,” said Derek Johnson, project manager for the Office of Long Range Planning.

The project, which Johnson estimates will take at least a year, is set to cost nearly $330,000 over three years and will come out of the fiscal general budgets for 2006-2007 through 2008-2009.

Though representatives from Rincon declined comment, Johnson said that the $329,670 price is the going rate to conduct an environmental review of this kind.

The preparation of the EIR follows the Santa Ynez Valley Planning Advisory Committee’s initial 2005-2006 drafting of the community plan, which received community response at a September 2006 meeting at the Solvang Veteran’s Hall. After which a subcommittee was formed to recommend that the County Board of Supervisors approve the plan for an environmental review. On September 21, 2006 the Board initiated the plan and in December awarded the EIR contract to Rincon Consultants Inc.

“The next step is to hold a scoping hearing in the Valley,” Johnson said. “That will be sometime in June, so Valley residents can come and discuss what they believe needs to be studied or included in the EIR.”

When the first draft of the EIR is complete, it will go before the Board for review and public comments concerning the EIR will be heard and given consideration. If all fares well, the review will be processed and community plan will go through the final stages of completion.

Though there have been some concerns about the impact the community plan will have on Valley land owners, Johnson said that the plan will not propose new restrictions, adding that the few rezones are “pretty modest.”

“[The community plan] is a plan to preserve the existing character and qualities of the Valley,” he said. “Residents wanted this plan to come up with specific policies to preserve their quality of living.”

Agenda Item A-10: Regional Conservation Strategy for Endangered Species

The Board also unanimously voted to approve the delegation of eight members for the Conservation Steering Committee. The steering committee’s mission is to create a Regional Strategy Program to protect the endangered California Tiger Salamander and potentially other threatened species as well.

“The purpose of creating a regional strategy is to protect species as well as the property rights of land owners,” said Joy Hufschmid, project manager for the Office of Long Range Planning.

The formation of the committee comprises members from local jurisdictions in Santa Maria, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, the California Department of Fish and Game, environmental communities, the development community, the ranching community and the farming community.

“The real goal is to come up with the best possible resource management program that is in everyone’s interest,” said Jerry Bunin, government affairs director for the Home Builders Association.

Kari Bohard-Campbell, an employee at Rancho Laguna Farms in Santa Maria shared Bunin’s sentiment.

Any preservation strategy must take into consideration the financial cost to property owners, Campbell said.

“We have had a hard enough time without the added cost,” she said. Though the committee members are volunteering their time, $200,000 will come from both the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 general budgets to pay for consultants and to develop the plan. Included in the cost is the steering committee’s $1,000 estimate for additional support for hearings.

While Hufschmid and Bunin agree upon developing a Regional Conservation Strategy to preserve the Tiger Salamander, others in the agricultural community have expressed concern about making sure their interests will not go unnoticed.

“The one thing that is very important is that we want to be looked at from an agricultural standpoint,” said Willy Chamberlin, a cattleman and resident of the Valley. “Even [though] agricultural practices don’t generally destroy species, we understand that there can be some impacts.”

To date, land owners who want to make any changes to their lands or agricultural practices must develop their own conservation plan to be presented to the Planning and Development Department for review. Because this process can be timely and costly, The steering committee is proposing the development of a regional strategy to target the Salamander and potentially other endangered species in the same areas.

“It’s our hope that the cost and procedure will improve,” Chamberlin said. “But that doesn’t necessarily mean it will happen. Sometimes the government doesn’t give a d—n about cost, so it’s a risk. We’re willing to risk that the [regional strategy] could be good, but also understand it could be bad.” he added. “It’s a risk were willing to take because it could be helpful.”

Though the committee has not yet decided if it’s going to include other species, it will be up for discussion. Monthly steering committee meetings are held every fourth Wednesday at 10 a.m. in the Betteravia Government Center Board Hearing Room, 511 East Lakeside Pkwy., Santa Maria. It is an open meeting and the public is encouraged to attend and comment on various items that may be presented.

“The committee is just beginning and it will be at least a year-long process,” Hufschmid concluded. “This has to be a community supported effort, because otherwise it won’t be successful.”

For more information about both agenda items, visit The County of Santa Barbara Online