The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors once again takes on the volatile Naples debate at a meeting on 10/20. The supervisors had previously approved Matt Osgood’s plan to put 71 large-scale luxury homes on the historic Gaviota Coast ranch. This time around, however, the board will debate an ordinance that would rescind a development agreement that was part of the project’s original approval. The issue is being revisited because the California Coastal Commission and the California Department of Conservation did not sign off on the agreement.
•••
Anyone looking at the western sky on 10/8 may have seen an unmistakable squiggle of white smoke arching toward the heavens. A Delta II rocket carrying a WorldView II imaging satellite was successfully launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base into polar orbit. The high-resolution, remote-sensing satellite will join a network of other satellites to serve imaging needs for DigitalGlobe Inc.’s defense, government, and commercial clients.
•••
The Board of Supervisors denied on 10/13 a conditional use permit for William Foley’s Santa Ynez Crossroads property. Foley was requesting permission to host a maximum of 20 commercial special events and five charitable special events per year, with a maximum of 250 attendees per event on the 54-acre property, which he bought from the Firestone family in 2008.
•••
It’s happy times for Happy Canyon vintners, as the federal government approved the American Viticultural Area designation for this slice of the eastern Santa Ynez Valley. Distinctive weather, temperatures, soil types, and other factors at the nearly 24,000-acre wine-growing region combined to earn it the official appellation. The six affected vineyards-Vogelzang, Star Lane, Happy Canyon, Grassini, Cimarone, and McGinley-have long claimed that the region is better suited for Bordeaux varietals than other parts of Santa Barbara County.