Don't give up on Gaviota coast

Don't give up on Gaviota coast

In a recent column Andy Caldwell, the executive director of COLAB, postulates that the Gaviota Coast has been trashed, and we might as well finish the job. Campgrounds, a hotel, and a dump with an ocean view have all invaded the coast, to say nothing of the industrial oil facilities.

He suggests that we promote sprawl up the Gaviota Coast by ignoring our General Plan policies.

A little background about a proposed massive Gaviota Coast mansion will help you understand the tenuous nature of Caldwell's position.

The proposed Ballantyne mega-house sits on agricultural lands at the eastern gateway to the Gaviota Coast on a ridge a quarter mile from Highway 101. The metal and glass monstrosity for two people has 15,800 square feet of buildings, is longer than a football field, and is hidden behind a 6,000-cubic-yard wall of dirt 660 feet long and 10 feet high.

The house was rejected twice by the Board of Architectural Review, who simply advised the owner to redesign and re-site the home on the lot to fit with the surrounding landscape and avoid violating the most basic of General Plan policies.

Rather than reconfigure the house, Ms. Ballantyne and her husband, Randy Welty, chose to fight. The county relaxed standards, waived fees and expedited special treatment for this monster house. Ironically, that special treatment led to the processing errors that will land this project in court.

County General Plan policies and zoning requirements provide uniform standards for all development - setting the rules for landowners and establishing expectations for surrounding communities.

The rural area General Plan policies that apply to this project state that structures: 1) shall be sited so as not to intrude into the skyline as seen from public viewing places, 2) shall be subordinate in appearance to natural landforms, 3) shall be designed to follow the natural contours of the landscape, 4) shall minimize cut and fill operations.

The Ballantyne project, as proposed, flunks all of these clear policies.

Caldwell claims that the developers of the property have had their property rights stolen. No one has ever claimed that the owners do not have a legal right to build on their property. However, they do not have a legal right to violate county policies.

The acreage they are building on is big enough to accommodate their oversized vision if appropriately sited, but they have chosen to ignore county policies.

The North County majority on the Board of Supervisors has voted to approve this project in clear violation of its own policies, defying the plain language of those policies.

This is government at its worst. The supervisors' action undermines the integrity and authority of legitimate county policy rather than protect the property rights of individuals. It exalts politics over law and policy, and demonstrates just how far Caldwell is willing to go to avoid playing by the rules.

Caldwell clearly does not understand the near-universal sentiment to protect the Gaviota landscape and its working ranches from the sprawl that is changing our landscape.

In the primary election for 3rd District supervisor, all of the candidates strongly endorsed the long-term preservation of the coast. Liberals and conservatives agreed that this is a one-of-a-kind landscape that demands protection.

While condemning the South County for “urban sprawl,” Caldwell promotes the systematic conversion of agricultural lands to meet the part-time residential needs of rich out-of-towners.

Gaviota has been a working landscape for decades, with farms, ranches, orchards, grazing lands, state parks and a scattering of modest houses. Lately, the out-of-town crowd has started buying up agricultural land and proposing McMansions on every hill.

Gaviota is at a crossroads. Caldwell urges that we ignore the history and culture of the Gaviota Coast, and the policies that have kept it special - that we throw open the door to sprawl.

But few long-term Gaviota landowners want that kind of development, and virtually everyone else in the county understands why the Gaviota Coast is special.

Every sitting supervisor has expressed affection for the coast. Supervisor Joni Gray has stated that the beaches on the Gaviota Coast are prized by her constituents. Supervisor Brooks Firestone said that protecting the Gaviota Coast “is a big one for me.” Supervisor Joe Centeno was born at the Naples townsite where his father worked for the railroad; the coast runs in his blood.

Caldwell is clearly out of touch.

Phil McKenna is a Gaviota Coast Conservancy board member.

July 30, 2008