UC, Santa Barbara County Propose Changes in Projects to Protect Beach

In a move that could end 17 years of debate over coastal development, officials with the county and the University of California on Wednesday announced a proposal to protect two miles of prime beach property by moving planned private and university home construction inland.

If accepted by the public and various government agencies, the agreement would protect unspoiled beaches, vernal pools, one of California’s largest monarch butterfly groves, and provide 10 miles of hiking trails.

“The proposal that we have developed with Santa Barbara County offers tremendous potential benefit to the region’s population while helping us to meet our housing goals,” UC Santa Barbara Chancellor Henry T. Yang said at a news conference.

The joint effort would break a long-standing roadblock over proposals dating to 1983 to develop the area northwest of Isla Vista around the Devereux Slough. If the Devereux/Ellwood Regional Open Space and Development Plan succeeds, it would create what officials describe as “by far the largest public coastal open space in the south coast urban area.”

Reaching a final resolution, however, depends upon the agreement of the public, the Board of Supervisors, the university system, private developers and possibly a city that doesn’t yet exist. A grass-roots effort is underway to make Goleta a city, and the area involved would probably fall within its boundaries.

A spokesman for the private developers, Santa Barbara Development Partnership, said they support the approach unveiled Wednesday “100%.” But the tenuous nature of this ambitious team approach was underscored by the comments of Santa Barbara County Supervisor Gail Marshall, who emphasized that the people in her district are “going to want to be heard.”

“I am willing to keep an open mind,” she said. Supervisors are scheduled to discuss the proposal Aug. 21.

Currently, 192 acres in the area are proposed for housing development, including the Monarch Point Reserve project, which calls for 123 homes near the coastal bluff at the end of Santa Barbara Shores Drive. Also on the books are plans for 122 units of university housing south of the Ocean Meadows Golf Course.

Under the proposal, both projects would be relocated farther from the coast. The new developments would comprise 95 acres, half the initial size. If enacted, the proposal would protect 599 acres of open space along 2.25 miles of coast.

Part of the equation for the university and the private developers is what one official called “a healthy dose of pragmatism.” Though they might be able to eventually build something under current development plans, past fights and lawsuits show it would not be an easy or quick process. The university, at least, can’t afford a long wait.

Yang emphasized the urgent need for more student and faculty housing in a community where homes are at a premium, and at a premium price.

“Over the next decade, a significant proportion of our senior faculty members will be retiring,” Yang said. “The young scholars that we must attract to replace them will face a truly daunting challenge when it comes to finding housing.”

A third of the university housing would primarily accommodate graduate students, while the rest would be sold to faculty and staff at a modest price on the condition that the buyers sell them back to the school when they leave.