From: Subject: Printable Version Date: Fri, 6 Feb 2009 21:05:43 -0800 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; type="text/html"; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0000_01C9889E.AC978030" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.5579 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0000_01C9889E.AC978030 Content-Type: text/html; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://www.santamariatimes.com/articles/2009/02/06/news/centralcoast/news04.prt Printable = Version

Gaviota housing project reaches terminal=20 crossroad

By Sam Womack/Staff=20 Writer

Negotiations between Santa Barbara County = and the=20 developer of the controversial Santa Barbara Ranch housing project = on the=20 Gaviota Coast appear to have unraveled following the county Board = of=20 Supervisors=92 recent decision to nullify an agreement made in = closed=20 session last fall.

Environmental groups opposed to the 71 = large homes=20 proposed on the pristine coastline north of Gaviota argued that = legally=20 the supervisors should have voted on an amendment to an earlier = agreement=20 with the developer in a public hearing last October, not in=20 closed-session.

The newly constituted board =97 with = Doreen Farr=20 replacing Brooks Firestone as 3rd District supervisor =97 agreed = with that=20 view, and decided in closed session Jan. 27 to reverse the earlier = action,=20 which allowed the Santa Barbara Ranch project to be split into two = parts =97=20 one inland and one along the coast =97 for planning = purposes.

The supervisors are expected to take up = the matter=20 again in public session on March 3, according to Linda Krop, = attorney for=20 the Environmental Defense Center.

However, with last week=92s reversal, = Santa Barbara=20 Ranch developer Matt Osgood is taking the position that the = original=20 agreement with the county is now void.

In a letter sent to the county Thursday, = Osgood=20 rejected the unchanged contract, and terminated the agreement, = according=20 to his attorney, Stanley Lamport. He also canceled all agreements = for=20 beach access, public trails and parking in the coastal zone, = Lamport=20 said.

After overcoming his surprise over the = board=92s=20 turnabout, Osgood did what was necessary to protect himself, = Lamport=20 said.

The coastal portion of the Santa Barbara = Ranch=20 property, located south of the railroad tracks, reverts back to = conditions=20 created by a residential subdivision map from the 1880s, Lamport=20 said.

Lamport said one of the options for the = coastal=20 property now will be individual sales of each of the 150 = lots.

Osgood will continue to move forward with = the 55=20 homes planned for the inland area, and will follow through with = the creek=20 restoration and conservation easement, Lamport said.

=93Unfortunately we take no joy in = this,=94 Lamport=20 said. =93We spent 10 years trying to do the right thing, and there = is a lot=20 of disappointment on our part.=94

The initial agreement with the county had = all=20 aspects of the Santa Barbara Ranch project under the jurisdiction = of the=20 state Coastal Commission. With the amendment approved last fall,=20 development on the inland portion would have been allowed to = proceed=20 before the coastal portion was reviewed by the = commission.

=93We discussed with county staff and = county counsel=20 about amending the contract, and in exchange the county received = the=20 benefit of having a mechanism to reduce lots in the coastal = zone,=94 Lamport=20 said.

=93They forfeited everything they wanted = out of this=20 project,=94 he said. =93No one contacted us before they made this = decision,=20 and if they had, we would have pointed out to them that it=92s the = worst=20 possible thing they could do.=94

Environmental groups argued that the = revision to=20 the agreement would have compromised the county=92s ability to = make sure the=20 project=92s impacts were balanced.

The Board of Supervisors could decide to = approve=20 the amendment after the public hearing next month, but history may = not=20 repeat itself because of the new face on the dais.

Farr is generally viewed as being a = stronger=20 environmental advocate and less friendly towards development than=20 Firestone, who was one of the three votes in approval of the = amendment and=20 the project last year.

Febuary 6, 2009

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