We are a group of hard working people from various neighborhoods in the
Eastern Goleta Valley (known by some as Noleta!) who gathered together in a neighbor’s living room one Saturday morning after learning that the County
of Santa Barbara was proposing large development and major changes in our area. Word spread quickly and before we knew it we had 75 people show up at an impromptu neighborhood meeting!
As an outgrowth of this meeting we formed a grass roots
neighborhood group that worked feverishly to learn as much as we could about
- land use
- zoning ordinances
- agricultural land protections
- and much more
We didn’t have time to get very organized, and most of what we did
was through email and a few meetings. At that time one critical issue was the up-zoning of many Hope Ranch Annex neighborhoods. We passed out flyers to affected neighborhoods, which alerted more people and drew in concerned residents from the area. We made our presence and thoughts known.
We …
- wrote lots and lots of letters
- attended public hearings (at inconvenient times of the
day!) - gave a power point presentation at a public hearing
- gave 3-minute public comments whenever we had the opportunity
Fortunately, we were able to stop the up-zoning of Hope Ranch Annex, but there are many more issues looming where we need to be attentive and involved.
We are at risk of losing valuable agricultural land in exchange
for multi-story buildings and changing the character of our community. We don’t
consider this sensible planning. This is why we have organized some hard
working folks to speak up now when we can make a difference, instead of being
asleep and waking one day to bulldozers and cement trucks down the street!
We need to slow down and think about the effects of this much building. This is the common sense approach that we endorse.
Please browse our web site for more information.
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