Land-Use Policies
[ Excerpt from SBN-P article 5/26/2006 by Barney McManigal ]
... Two landmark decisions by the county to ease growth pressure on South Coast neighborhoods reflect a dramatic shift in land-use policy that could rattle the campaigns of four candidates vying to replace Supervisor Susan Rose.
Votes by the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors earlier this week to exempt South Coast areas from state-mandated growth and to update the Goleta Valley Community Plan directly address two key issues that have dominated the June 6 race for the 2nd District supervisor seat.
Joe Guzzardi, Dan Secord, Das Williams and Janet Wolf are vying for the open seat. Mr. Guzzardi, who called on supervisors to defy the law, has billed himself as "100 percent opposed" to the mandate. So has Mr. Williams. All the candidates favored a community plan update.
Whether housing issues will continue to excite voters in the final days of the campaign remains to be seen. While some observers say the votes could deflate contenders focused solely on land-use issues, others argue that the war to protect neighborhoods from rampant growth is not over...
"Any property owner at any time can come forward with a project," Mr. [Gary] Earle [neighborhood activist] said. "We still need to elect a supervisor who is going to support the will of the community."
... Ms. Wolf said she looked forward to residents crafting a community plan that addresses the region's housing needs.
"I really do hope that people will come together and understand that we have a need for critical work force housing," she said...
Mr. [Das] Williams, who also warned that the state mandate still exists, questioned whether the Goleta Valley would achieve residents' goals, because, he asserted, the county's comprehensive planning division does not have the tools to do the job.
"We're dealing with a department that is being pummeled from above," he said, referring to efforts by three North County conservative supervisors to reform the division.
Mr. Williams suggested that supervisors agreed to update the Goleta Valley plan to convince South Coast voters that they support environmental protections. Mr. Williams asserts that they do not.
"People aren't going to be fooled," he said. "They know that there's still a strong pro-development (bias) on the board and there's still a need for strong leadership to protect the quality of life for people of the 2nd District."
e-mail: bmcmanigal@newspress.com
Santa Barbara News-Press
... Two landmark decisions by the county to ease growth pressure on South Coast neighborhoods reflect a dramatic shift in land-use policy that could rattle the campaigns of four candidates vying to replace Supervisor Susan Rose.
Votes by the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors earlier this week to exempt South Coast areas from state-mandated growth and to update the Goleta Valley Community Plan directly address two key issues that have dominated the June 6 race for the 2nd District supervisor seat.
Joe Guzzardi, Dan Secord, Das Williams and Janet Wolf are vying for the open seat. Mr. Guzzardi, who called on supervisors to defy the law, has billed himself as "100 percent opposed" to the mandate. So has Mr. Williams. All the candidates favored a community plan update.
Whether housing issues will continue to excite voters in the final days of the campaign remains to be seen. While some observers say the votes could deflate contenders focused solely on land-use issues, others argue that the war to protect neighborhoods from rampant growth is not over...
"Any property owner at any time can come forward with a project," Mr. [Gary] Earle [neighborhood activist] said. "We still need to elect a supervisor who is going to support the will of the community."
... Ms. Wolf said she looked forward to residents crafting a community plan that addresses the region's housing needs.
"I really do hope that people will come together and understand that we have a need for critical work force housing," she said...
Mr. [Das] Williams, who also warned that the state mandate still exists, questioned whether the Goleta Valley would achieve residents' goals, because, he asserted, the county's comprehensive planning division does not have the tools to do the job.
"We're dealing with a department that is being pummeled from above," he said, referring to efforts by three North County conservative supervisors to reform the division.
Mr. Williams suggested that supervisors agreed to update the Goleta Valley plan to convince South Coast voters that they support environmental protections. Mr. Williams asserts that they do not.
"People aren't going to be fooled," he said. "They know that there's still a strong pro-development (bias) on the board and there's still a need for strong leadership to protect the quality of life for people of the 2nd District."
e-mail: bmcmanigal@newspress.com
Santa Barbara News-Press
Posted by Malcolm on
5/30/2006
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