NAPLES TRANSFER
OF DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS
The Santa Barbara Ranch Revised Draft EIR is substantially
flawed and does not comply with the requirements of the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Board of Supervisors Hearing to Initiate Transfer
of Development Rights (TDR) Program for the proposed development
at Santa Barbara Ranch (aka Naples)
WHEN: February 5, 2008, time TBD (see agenda
at http://bos-agenda.sbcgov.net/calendar/#current)
WHERE: Board Hearing Room, fourth floor,
County Administration Building, 105 E. Anapamu, Santa Barbara.
ALSO: Broadcast live on Cox cable TV channel
20.
Additionally, the meeting will be streamed live at www.countyofsb.org.
SANTA BARBARA, CA (Date):
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors will hold a hearing
to initiate a program for transferring development rights
from the Naples property on the Gaviota Coast to appropriate
areas in the urban portions of Santa Barbara County.
Vintage Properties of Orange County proposes to build between
54 to 72 large houses on the Naples property, located on the
Gaviota Coast 2 miles west of the City of Goleta. This number
of homes and suburban development on the rural Gaviota Coast
conflicts with numerous County policies and regulations.
In recognition of these conflicts, Coastal Land Use Policy
2-13 states: “The County shall encourage and assist the
property owner(s) in transferring development rights from the
Naples townsite to an appropriate site within a designated
urban area which is suitable for residential development.” Only
if TDR is found to not be feasible may the County consider
re-zoning the property as requested by the developer.
A study on the feasibility of creating a viable TDR program
for the Naples property has been completed that finds that
the transfer of development from Naples is at least partially
feasible. The Planning Commission forwarded the study to the
Supervisors with a recommendation to adopt a weak and ineffective
program.
The Naples Coalition has crafted a detailed protocol for a
fair and effective TDR program that requires the owner’s
participation, respects the owner’s economic interest,
establishes economic benchmarks to measure the program’s
performance, and allows for sufficient time for program to
operate successfully. A TDR program with these characteristics
is the best hope of preserving the rural character of the Naples
property.
If Naples is developed as proposed it will;
- Import a suburban development onto the officially recognized
rural Gaviota Coast,
- Fragment historically productive ranch lands,
- Negatively impact the economical viability of surrounding
agricultural lands,
- Introduce urban services onto rural lands,
- Invade protected public viewsheds,
- Establish precedents for the future urbanization of the
Gaviota Coast,
- Conflict with numerous county policies.
The development at Naples, at the eastern gateway to the Gaviota
Coast, is the most complex project being considered in Santa
Barbara County. This project threatens to destroy the longstanding
efforts of local landowners, concerned citizens, and NGOs,
to maintain the working rural landscape of the Gaviota Coast.
About The Naples Coalition:
The Naples Coalition is a Santa Barbara County, CA-based public
benefit corporation with representation by local non-profit
groups including the Citizens Planning Association of Santa
Barbara County, Gaviota Coast Conservancy, League of Women
Voters of Santa Barbara County, Los Padres Chapter of the
Sierra Club, Santa Barbara Chapter of Surfrider Foundation,
Santa Barbara Chapter of the Audubon Society and Santa Barbara
Community Action Network. The Naples Coalition is dedicated
to the preservation of the rural character of the Naples
property on the Gaviota coast. Specifically, the Naples Coalition
is responding to Vintage Communities, an Orange County development
company that purchased the Naples townsite lots and has an
application pending with the County of Santa Barbara to build
up to 72 large luxury houses on the rural Naples property.
The Naples Coalition seeks to preserve the rural character
of the Naples area from this development’s impacts.
Visit the Naples Coalition website at www.savenaples.org
For more information contact:
Marc Chytilo, Esq.
Attorney for the Naples Coalition
Phone: 805.682.0585
Email: airlaw5@cox.net
Mike Lunsford
Naples Board Member
Phone: 805.967.5828
Email: lunsford4@cox.net
