Goleta to Consider Designating Historic Structures
Young City Will Look to Preserve Its Past
The archway to Glen Annie Ranch — the 5,000-acre property whose disputed ownership made headlines from San Francisco to Boston in the 1870s, as Tom Madugno recounts in GoletaHistory.com — is among the historic resources listed in Goleta’s ongoing Historic Preservation Ordinance, which will be the topic of discussion at the next City Council meeting on December 7.
Not all the structures on the list involve the suspicious house fires, feuding founding families, probate litigation, and domestic disputes of the Glen Annie property. But a number of them are priceless reminders of the past, such as the first telephone exchange building in Goleta, now the Pendulum Faire Clock Shop on Patterson; turn-of-the-century farmhouses now surrounded by neighborhoods, such as the one on Ravenscroft, or homes exemplifying the styles of the 1920s and 1930s; and familiar icons like the Barnsdall-Rio Grande Gas Station at the far end of Hollister Avenue or the old Goleta Lemon Association packing house on La Patera Lane.
The city hopes to designate seven structures as Goleta Landmarks and another 22 into a Historic Resources Inventory in the long run. To do so, a Historic Preservation Commission will be created and charged with establishing standards and definitions to protect Goleta’s history while allowing the city to move into the future. Or, as the city states, “to preserve and protect resources that, once lost, cannot be replaced or replicated.”
A number of issues such as earth moving, tree planting, cultural remains, and archaeological resources are considered in a proposed ordinance crafted by the city’s Planning Commission and various stakeholders, such as historians, residents, and members of the Chumash tribe. Goleta’s City Council meetings are currently held virtually because of the pandemic, and access can be gained through the agenda, which will be posted here before the meeting, which starts at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 7.
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