Article taken from the
Santa Barbara News Press
New homes
project considered
ANGEL PACHECO, NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
NEWS-PRESS
STAFF WRITER
December 11, 2007
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| Two projects are under consideration for the Naples townsite |
County officials listened to public concerns on Monday about an environmental impact report on the proposed Santa Barbara Ranch Project that could add as many as 72 homes to the Gaviota Coast.
Two projects are under consideration for the Naples townsite, which is two miles north of Goleta.
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One calls for the development of 54 single-family homes on 485 acres that make up Santa Barbara Ranch, and the other would see 72 homes built on 3,254 acres that straddle the
Santa Barbara Ranch and the adjacent Dos Pueblos Ranch. Both projects would include an equestrian center, agricultural support facilities, permanent protection of open space and agriculture, a worker duplex and public amenities such as parking and an access road.
The original report was released in June 2006 and the revision was in response to feedback from government agencies.
The Planning Commission Hearing Room at 123 East Anacapa Street was filled to standing room only as concerned locals stood shoulder to shoulder.
Among them was Susan Kelly Nakao, who said, "It is time to give back what has been taken" from the Chumash Indians, for whom the sites have great cultural significance.
"Their right to their ancestral lands, ceremonies, culture and sacred places has never been transferred to the current owners," she said. "That right is still retained by the people collectively and by the many descendants individually."