Sprawl

We don't like to think of Santa Barbara as a place with sprawl. But Santa Barbara's expansive coastline, Mediterranean climate, and scenic beauty make it is a powerful draw for those who want to live and work here. This puts increasing pressure for development of the same coastline, scenic hills, and valleys.

Proposed development at Naples and mansions on agricultural land along the Gaviota Coast are clear threats to this unique and magnificent undeveloped coast. More Mesa is being studied, but to what end? Eastern Goleta Valley is threatened with ag land development, and a pro-growth majority on the Goleta City Council is working to gut the City’s new General Plan.

The Gaviota Coast

The Gaviota Coast
05--2008
The Gaviota Coast in Santa Barbara County, California, is considered to lie between Coal Oil Point in Goleta and Point Sal near Lompoc. It includes coastal watersheds from the top of the ridge to the ocean, and Points Conception and Arguello, the southwestern extremes of the North American Continent. It is a unique and imperiled area. Unique because it encompasses the meeting of an East-West mountain chain with the Pacific ocean. The resulting coastal Mediterranean ecosystem is not found anywhere else in the United States and is rare in the world. In large part because of their benign climate they are among the world's most threatened environments. The Southern California Coastal Province (Pt. Conception to Mexico) contains the highest density of imperiled species of anywhere in the U.S.