Naples on the Gaviota Coast

Naples on the Gaviota Coast
The Next Ellwood?

The Independent, Thursday, December 20, 2007

By Brian Trautwein, Environmental Analyst, Environmental Defense Center

What’s at Stake?

Naples is the broad coastal terrace incised by numerous canyons two miles up the 101 from Goleta. Scenic views of rolling hills cradling the area on the north - inland from Highway 101 — and the gently sloping coastal bluffs south of 101 are postcard-perfect. In breathtaking fashion, the bluffs abruptly drop off over 100-foot tall shale cliffs to rocky Naples Beach overlooking the Naples Reef – nineteen square nautical miles of one of Southern California’s most precious marine jewels. A National Park Service study found views in this area to be nationally significant and worthy of establishing a National Seashore.

The oak-studded, chaparral-blanketed Santa Ynez Mountains form a steep, scenic backdrop to the curving coastline which is punctuated by prominent rocky points. Highway 101 is eligible for listing as a state scenic highway and indeed County policy is to seek such a designation due to the area’s extraordinary beauty.

Gaviota was and remains special to the Chumash culture as the western gateway to the next world. Religious and cultural areas and relics are common there. Two major villages once stood at Naples, on either side of Dos Pueblos Creek. These areas have tremendous cultural significance that would be lost forever if Naples is developed.
One reason this area is so special to both the Chumash and to our modern culture is its rich natural resources. Species of every kind abound here, including badgers, bear, mountain lions, Gaviota tarplant, southern sea otters, seal, peregrine falcons, and golden eagles — Gaviota’s biodiversity is unparalleled in our region. At least 19 rare bird species including white-tailed kites – a species so threatened the state designated it “Fully Protected” - depend on the extensive grasslands at Naples. The Gaviota Coast is a biodiversity hotspot and is in the top 15 areas for species richness in the world.

Living amongst this amazing landscape are family farmers who want to keep farming and not be hindered by urbanization or urban regulations. These families run a few head of cattle and cultivate orchards in the fertile soil. They generally coexist with the otherwise natural landscape – a balance that is rare in this day and age. As the gateway to the 38-mile long Gaviota Coast – the last undeveloped coastline in southern California – if Naples falls to planned estate and “McMansion” development as planned and financed by people far removed from Santa Barbara, the rest of the Gaviota Coast could be next in line.

The Threat

The Naples, or “Santa Barbara Ranch,” development openly preferred by the Orange County developer would cut into scenic hillsides, pave over fertile land to construct new roads and result in up to 72 estate size homes (up to 13,000 square feet each), 72 smaller second units, and a duplex for a total of 146 homes. Almost two hundred acre of farmland – much designated prime farm land – would be converted or severely compromised. The development would violate local and state policies for environmental protection and would require three privately run sewage treatment plants on the fragile coast.

The development’s tenuous water supplies include the increasingly unreliable State Water Project. The project would also pipe water out of Dos Pueblos Creek, jeopardizing endangered steelhead trout and threatened red-legged frogs. Runoff would pollute the beach, wetlands and Naples Reef. Views would be scarred with large buildings intruding into the skyline and interfering with scenic ocean, island and mountain views. All this is described in the recently released 1,800 page Revised Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Santa Barbara Ranch project ( County of Santa Barbara Planning Department).

Despite Santa Barbara County’s history of careful land use planning, this EIR fails to accurately portray the environmental resources present at Naples. Some impacts are not adequately identified, and measures to reduce impacts are put off with no assurances they will be implemented effectively. The EIR is so flawed it actually finds the 146-unit project “environmentally superior” to a project with 110 units on substantially less acreage.

EDC and Surfrider Foundation

The Santa Barbara-based Environmental Defense Center (EDC) is the only non-profit public interest environmental law firm between LA and San Francisco. We have been hired by the Surfrider Foundation to bring our thirty years of legal and technical expertise to help resolve the long-standing legal, economic and environmental issues involved in the Naples proposal in a way that will protect the Gaviota Coast. EDC is funded solely by our non-profit clients and donors. We use scientific research, education, coalition-building, advocacy and, when needed, legal action to protect our coast, open spaces and protect human health and the region’s environment.

EDC has a successful history of protecting important open space areas in our region, including the Douglas Family Preserve, Carpinteria Bluffs, Sedgwick Ranch, Hearst Ranch and Ahmanson Ranch. After 15 years of working through the process and ultimately, as a last resort filing lawsuits to enforce environmental laws, we recently helped secure protection of the Ellwood Mesa (officially the “Sperling Preserve”) through an innovative “land swap” agreement which involved purchasing development rights from the landowners and transferring the remaining development rights away from the coast. We see Naples as the next candidate for such a transfer of development rights (TDR) that provides a fair return to the land owner while preserving a precious and rare natural resource.

The Solution

At Ellwood, (on behalf of Save Ellwood Shores and the Santa Barbara Audubon Society) EDC successfully convinced the City of Goleta and the developer to transfer development rights from a sensitive coastal mesa to a nearby inland area, thereby preserving important monarch butterfly habitat, native grasslands, vernal pools, and public access trails.

The solution for Naples is very similar. While we question the figure as inflated, the County has recognized that up to 126 homes could be built at Naples under existing zoning for Santa Barbara Ranch. County policies and state laws including the California Environmental Quality Act require that development planned for Naples be reduced to avoid all significant environmental impacts wherever feasible, and to comply with the state Coastal Act and County general plan.

First the project must be properly sited and reduced in size to fit the landscape without significantly damaging this delicate coastal gem. Then, under County coastal policy 2-13, as much as possible of the remaining proposed development must be transferred and re-located, if feasible, into more suitable urban locations that already have basic needs such as sewer, fire protection and water services. Policy 2-13 specifically calls for a land swap-type arrangement to pay the developer not to build on our fragile Gaviota Coast, to the extent feasible. This, EDC believes, is a win-win solution that provides the developer a return on his investment while fulfilling the community’s vision of protecting the irreplaceable beauty and natural resources of the Gaviota Coast.

To learn more about EDC’s efforts to preserve Naples, call Environmental Analyst Brian Trautwein at (805)963-1622 and check our website at www.edcnet.org.