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Commentary: The Gaviota Coast Is Clear, = If Only=20 In My Mind

http://www.noozhawk.com/noozhawk/article/0821_commentary_t= he_gaviota_coast_is_clear_if_only_in_my_mind/

By Jill Cloutier

When left to the imagination, Naples = encounters a=20 very interesting nondevelopment.

In a parallel universe =85

Naples owner and Orange County developer Matt Osgood had an epiphany = as he=20 drove his Range Rover through his proposed=20 development site on the Gaviota coast late Tuesday afternoon.

Here is Matt=92s account of the event:

=93It was unusual. I had a strong impulse to pull my Range Rover = over. The=20 feeling was so overwhelming; I finally stopped my car and got out. I = decided to=20 sit down and observe the land around me. To my surprise, as I sat = quietly in the=20 shade of my SUV, Naples began to reveal itself to me.

Butterflies landed on colorful wildflowers. A golden eagle soared in = long=20 circles above me. The chaparral was thick and noisy with birds and = insects. I=20 heard a larger animal, (Bear? Bobcat? Mountain lion?), softly moving in = the=20 brush. Dos Pueblos Creek sparkled in the sun and I recalled that it was = home to=20 one of the largest populations of steelhead trout. A fox, unaware that I = was=20 there, ran swiftly across the wildflower meadow.

As I looked around, with no agenda other than to observe, I = recalled that=20 this is the only place in the nation that has an ecological transition = zone=20 between Northern and Southern Mediterranean plant communities. Looking = at the=20 abundant plant life that surrounded me, I could see why the United Nations = lists the=20 Gaviota coastline as one of the top 15 hot spots for biodiversity in the = world.=20 More than 1,400 plant and animal species are found here. Twenty-four of = them are=20 threatened or endangered.=20

=91What a responsibility I have to this place,=92 I murmured, as two = blue whales=20 leaped in the Santa Barbara Channel below me. I had read years ago that = the=20 healthiest coastal ecosystem in Southern California is located here. =

I imagined where the 3,700- to 13,000-square-foot homes would be = situated =85=20 right where the oak and sycamore trees were. I thought of the ultra-rich = owners=20 of these luxury homes driving their SUVs up their newly asphalted = driveways,=20 turning the fox into road kill. I imagined the wildflowers transformed = into=20 front lawns, complete with household pesticide and herbicide use: toxic=20 chemicals that would run down the landscape and into Dos Pueblos Creek. = Once=20 there, they would harm the red-legged frogs that I could hear croaking = in the=20 distance.

The houses were going to be big and beautiful, but then I had an = image of all=20 of the resources necessary to build these giant luxury mansions. I = thought of=20 the places around the world that would be affected by the extraction of = the=20 resources needed to build the homes. I realized how my development would = harm=20 not only Naples, but other parts of the world.

=91I=92ll make a lot of money,=92 I reassured myself. =91But, how = much money do I=20 really need? How much money is enough? Would I rather go down in history = as the=20 man who destroyed this pristine area or as the man who stops the = madness? The=20 one who sees reason and says enough is enough!=92

These new thoughts were unsettling. I felt shaken to my core and for = some=20 reason, found myself crawling to the nearest oak tree. I rested my back = against=20 its trunk and looked up at the sky. The late afternoon sunlight filtered = through=20 the green canopy and fell to the ground around me. And in that moment, I = knew. I=20 saw everything so clearly. I would not be the one to develop this place. = I would=20 not open the door for future development to happen here.

Contrary to appearances, Naples wasn=92t mine to do with it what I = wanted. The=20 absurdity of my plan to build 72 large-scale luxury homes began to = disintegrate=20 before my eyes. =913,700 to 13,000 square feet =85=92 I mused. =91What = was I thinking?=20 Why not use my talents to repair what is already broken? Instead of = breaking=20 what is irreplaceable?=92

And in a flash, I saw what I must do. I would develop urban areas, = inner=20 cities where the buildings are substandard. Places where the only = businesses are=20 fast-food restaurants and liquor stores. I could use my time and money = to=20 improve people=92s lives. There were schools to be built, senior = centers, parks,=20 living roofs and gardens. I=92d invite nature back to the city, instead = of=20 bringing the city to nature. I could take the beauty that I saw in this = place,=20 the therapeutic benefits that I feel here, into the urban landscape. = I=92d=20 renovate, invigorate, and redesign those forgotten places; the inner = cities that=20 I was usually too scared to enter.

For the first time in more than 10 years, I felt free. The fight was = over. I=20 now had a mission. I would be Matt Osgood, Re-developer. I would go down = in=20 history, not as the man who destroyed the last remnant of the Southern=20 California coastline, but as the man who saved it. Who changed = his course=20 in midlife and in the process improved the lives of millions in cities = across=20 America.

Then I did the most surprising thing of all; something that I never = thought=20 that I could or would do, not in a million years. I took my cell phone = out of my=20 pocket, dialed 4-1-1, and asked for the number of the Land Trust for Santa Barbara = County.=20 There was an important matter that I wanted to discuss with them.=94 =

Note: Matt Osgood ceded all 1,085 acres of land that he owned at = Naples to=20 the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County, with the stipulation that it = remain a=20 wildlife sanctuary and never be developed. He is now focusing his = efforts on=20 rebuilding inner cities across America.

Jill Cloutier is a freelance writer, environmental educator and = host of=20 Sustainable World, a radio show airing at 9 a.m. Fridays on KCSB = 91.9 FM.=20 She can be reached at .

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