County May Buy Paradise Beach Property

On 4/1, the California Coastal Conservancy is expected to pledge $1,136,000 in funding to support the acquisition of the Paradise Beach property, located between Point Sal State Park and the Guadalupe Dunes in northern Santa Barbara County. The money will trigger $1.2 million in matching federal funds from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which—when teamed with the $775,000 from the Packard Foundation—will secure the more than $3 million that the County of Santa Barbara intends to offer to the Tognazzini family, which has owned the land since homesteading there in the 1870s. If a sale goes through, the county-owned land will become part of the Point Sal Reserve Management Area.