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Yahoo!It’s a new year and the City of Goleta has a new Council, but contrary to popular belief, elections mark just the beginning, not the end, of the political process. Resident participation, in meetings and hearings, is just as important as the elections themselves in determining the Goleta Council decisions. As Bill Moyers once said, “Ideas are great arrows, but there has to be a bow. And politics is the bow of idealism.”
Are there any major issues affecting Goleta on the horizon that residents should get involved with? Does Goleta have lemons? Does Haskell’s Beach have tar? The correct answers are yes, yes, and yes.
About the time this column is published, a public meeting will be taking place about Venoco seeking a 10-year renewal for its lease of an oil pipeline from its Ellwood Marine Terminal to the barge offshore from Ellwood Mesa. It would also continue the barging of oil along coastal shipping routes to the Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas. A public meeting to discuss this is taking place at the Goleta Public Library on Wednesday, January 28, at 4 p.m.
George Relles
UCSB's Long Range Development Plan proposes big changes
The original environmental impact report required the use of a double-hulled barge by 2010. Single-hulled barges such as Venoco is currently using greatly increase the risk of accidental oil spills. Venoco now states that no double-hulled barge is available, and that it is infeasible to buy or construct one.
The draft environmental impact report (DEIR) offers two alternatives to barging oil: trucking, which risked air quality and spills from road accidents, or an onshore pipeline from Ellwood to the All American Pipeline in Los Flores Canyon.
If the double-hulled barge is no longer feasible, the pipeline would clearly seem to be the environmentally preferred alternative.
The re-circulated DEIR can be seen on the California State Lands Commission Web site as CSLC EIR Number 743. Copies are also available at the Goleta Branch Library and the Santa Barbara Main Library. Anyone can comment either at the January 28 meeting or in writing no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, February 6, 2009, to: Eric Gillies, Project Manager, California State Lands Commission; 100 Howe Avenue, Suite 100 South; Sacramento, CA 95825.
In the parlance of infomercials, “But wait, there’s more!” Bacara is seeking design review for a proposed 56-unit development next to its existing resort at Haskell's Beach. It will be presenting its plan to Goleta’s Design Review Board on Tuesday, January 27, 4 p.m. at Goleta City Hall. There are many design-related issues that affect this project, perhaps the most compelling of which are its effect on ocean and mountain views. As this project goes to the Planning Commission, the City Council, and the Coastal Commission, residents will also be able to express concerns about such issues as altered access to the public beach, adequate public parking, and archeological resources.
George Relles
Keep an eye on the Bacara
In addition, on Monday, February 9, Goleta’s planning commissioners will review the proposal for the 102-unit Haskell’s Landing development across from Sandpiper Golf Course. There are some potentially significant environmental impacts at this site that may require mitigation.
If these issues are not enough, consider the numerous issues that will be coming up soon as the Council considers the Goleta General Plan. Many feel that two years ago the then-majority initiated dozens of changes contrary to public input at community workshops. Some of the changes reduced environmental protections while others seemed to invite more building such as another regional “big box” development. Many felt that these changes will cause major negative impacts to Goleta traffic and air quality.
At its January 20, 2009 meeting, the new Council decided not to review changes already made to the original plan by the previous Council, but to move ahead and consider proposed “Track 3” changes, as well as revisions to the housing element. However, Council members stated that once that is done, the public will be asked to comment on the revised plan as a whole, and the Council may make final changes to any part of the plan at that time.
The general plan will be Goleta’s “blueprint” for at least the next decade, and some of its impacts will be irreversible. Goletans interested in the general plan should check Goleta’s city events calendar to keep informed about upcoming meetings and agendas for Goleta’s City Council, Planning Commission, and Design Review Board.
Goleta residents should also consider weighing in on matters bordering Goleta that strongly affect our quality of life. A prime example is UCSB’s Proposed Long Range Development Plan (LRDP). In the Draft EIR, UCSB proposed increasing student enrollment by 5,000 and increasing faculty and staff by several hundred, with a concomitant increase in housing on campus.
To illustrate the magnitude of this plan, consider just one part of the LRDP, the Ocean Road Project, which calls for significant construction on both sides of Ocean Road adjoining Isla Vista, including numerous three–story residential buildings for a total of 543 additional units and 1,379 more parking spaces. It also calls for construction of 54,400 square feet of academic and support buildings and 26,000 square feet of commercial development.
The newly revised LRDP environmental impact report may have been made public by the time this column appears, and will probably be available at ucsbvision.com. Because of its likely impacts to Goleta’s traffic, water supply, housing, and other concerns, Goleta residents need to review the plan and comment.
President Obama’s inauguration speech called us to a new era of responsibility and action. This call should resonate with us locally. While we Goleta residents cannot immediately affect foreign policy, cure hunger, fix the economy, create affordable healthcare, or improve our immigration policy, we can and must take responsibility for our community’s future by staying informed and involved. If we do not, who will? And if not now, when?
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Bravo for a good column reminding us all that plenty is going on politically and governmentally in Goleta that could be irreversible.
It's true...without the Goleta Valley Voice there isn't much exposure or detailed reporting of essential issues affecting Goleta and Goletians.
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mangomamma (anonymous profile)
January 28, 2009 at 1:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Thanks for this great column. BTW, I made the effort as a concerned citizen to attend the Design Review Board hearing yesterday, but for the half hour or so that I stayed, it was way over my head. It was a much more technical presentation than is accessible for the average citizen. There was a very detailed discussion of grading, but there was no layman's picture of what the project would actually look like. Did I miss something? Would I have to have patiently stuck around to get the less technical part of the presentation?
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ellwoodlover (anonymous profile)
January 28, 2009 at 3:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
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