CALIFORNIA ALBUM : A Battle Rages Down by the Sea : A bitter election has given the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors a pro-development cast. Now a proposed homes project in the Ellwood Shores area presents the new board with its first test.

With its purple wildflowers, red foxes and great blue herons, the Ellwood Shores area seems an idyllic coastal refuge.

But a 254-acre mesa here is the site of a contentious battle over growth along the seaside bluffs northwest of Santa Barbara.

“It’s a political hot potato that’s burning a lot of us up,” said one resident.

Ellwood Shores has emerged as the first test of the new Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, which is widely regarded to be in the midst of a switch from two decades of pro-environment positions to more of a pro-growth stance.

On March 31, the swing vote on the five-member board was narrowly won by oilman and rancher Willy Chamberlin. He prevailed after a bitter 10-month campaign that spawned a messy election, two recounts and an unusual seven-week civil trial.

A judge recently ruled that pro-growth candidate Chamberlin won the supervisor’s seat by two votes, ousting environmentalist Bill Wallace, who for 16 years had held that position. Wallace is appealing the ruling, but Chamberlin has taken his seat on the board.

The supervisors are considering a plan to build half-million-dollar homes at Ellwood Shores, in addition to an intensive-use park with a velodrome, a motocross track and a large parking lot.

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The board’s decision in the next few weeks will serve as a sign for the future of what for years has been one of California’s most famous slow-growth communities.

“There’s no doubt this site is a test to our commitment to coastal resources and sensitive areas,” said slow-growth Supervisor Tom Rogers.

Already, portions of the shoreline have been marked for development. Less than two miles up the coast from Ellwood Shores at Haskell’s Beach, Hyatt Corp. plans to build a 400-room resort overlooking the ocean.

Hyatt spent eight years and $8 million winning approval from the county. The group Citizens of Goleta Valley had sued the county, claiming that the hotel project would damage marshlands and that alternative sites should have been considered.

The case went to the California Supreme Court, which approved Hyatt’s plan in 1991. Since then, the developers have been trying to secure financing.

Nearby is a 202-acre parcel owned by Arco Oil & Gas Co. For decades, Arco has drilled and processed gas and oil on these coastal pasturelands. Now, it wants to convert its tank farm to an 18-hole golf course and seven acres of parking lots.

In April, the county Planning Commission recommended that supervisors deny the project, saying it would pressure local cattle ranchers and avocado growers to sell their agricultural land to other developers.

But no pending development project has attracted more public interest than Ellwood Shores, say county officials. In the past three years, public hearings have attracted a record number of speakers, most of them opposed.

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“I’m appalled at how fast this proposal is moving through the channels of county government,” said Chris Lange, a businesswoman who heads Save Ellwood Shores.

The site is in the unincorporated town of Goleta and is bordered by the Devereux Slough, a nature reserve managed by UC Santa Barbara. For its size, the slough includes more bird species than any other wetlands in the state.

“This is a rare spot, as almost all the other wetlands in Southern California have been degraded or destroyed by development,” said botanist Beth Hendrickson, caretaker of the slough.

The site contains one of California’s last remaining vernal pool areas, where redheaded ducks and snowy egrets breed, as well as the state’s largest roosting site of monarch butterflies.

Developer Southwest Diversified Inc. wants to build 161 homes priced between $400,000 and $900,000. The project will not harm the environment, said Randy Fox, the developer’s spokesman.

He said the mesa is already degraded by bicyclists and hikers. But Southwest intends to preserve the rare grasslands by building around them and will maintain 80% of the site as open space, Fox said.

However, county planner Natasha Heifetz disputed the developer’s claims, saying that building on the mesa could harm the slough’s ecosystem.

“The developer has portrayed the site to be in much worse condition than it really is,” she added.

The Planning Commission recommended that supervisors deny Southwest’s plan. Chamberlin is the only supervisor to publicly support the plan; two other pro-growth supervisors have yet to take a position.

Meanwhile, some neighbors have been urging the board to carefully consider the project. “We’ve tried to warn the board about Southwest Diversified because the company has been sued by other community groups in California,” said Mike Lunsford, a state park ranger who lives in Goleta.

A group of Dana Point residents is suing Southwest Diversified for developer fraud, said attorney Darryl Paul. The group alleges that Southwest purposely misled neighbors about the height and density of a housing project.

“I’m confident that we will be vindicated,” said Fox, the Southwest spokesman.

Some Santa Barbara County residents have suggested that Southwest swap its property with a neighboring 119-acre parcel owned by the county. The county parks department intends to build a multi-facility park on its coastal land, said Mike Pahos, parks director.

About 2,000 residents recently signed a petition objecting to the high-use park. Some residents would rather see a park with fewer buildings and activities, said neighbor Diane Mosher.