News of the Week
MARCH 13-20, 2014
county
Rock On, Goleta Beach Supes to Ask Coastal Commission to Permit Revetments
AT LONG LAST: After much speculation about what the future of Goleta Beach would hold, the supervisors voted 5-0 Tuesday to request a permit for the current rock revetments. Janet Wolf (below) — supervisor of the district in which the beach is located — spearheaded the board’s plan.
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BY LY Z H O F F M A N
fter discussing everything they could do for Goleta Beach Park, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to do only one thing: ask the Coastal Commission to permit the rock revetments. The presence of the rocks — some were installed legally, some illegally, and some with now-expired emergency permits — has long divided the community, with rock supporters maintaining that the revetments protect the lawn and its amenities but environmental groups just as vehemently saying the rocks only protect the park at the expense of the beach, making for a loss of sand and a permanent bluff over time. Tuesday’s meeting was no different, with supporters on both sides — although the ratio skewed toward the rock-favoring representatives of Friends of Goleta Beach and the City of Goleta over the removal-favoring Environmental Defense Center (EDC) and Surfrider Foundation — packing the boardroom. The project before the supervisors Tuesday was the latest in the years-long effort by the county to address the popular beach’s future — it attracts 1.5 million visitors annually — which is believed to be jeopardized by climate change and projected sea-level rise. After more than two hours of staff presentations and public testimony from approximately 40 speakers, nd District Supervisor Janet Wolf, in whose district the park lies, took the lead. “My commitment to the long-term sustainability should go without saying,” she said, declaring there has been “far too much rhetoric, political theater, legal threats, and personal threats” surrounding the issue. She continued, noting the board’s approval in recent years of replacing the nearby 40-year-old sewer lift station and the park’s bridge and denying a motion for parking fees. No matter people’s position on what’s best for Goleta Beach — keeping the rocks or removing them, or some hybrid plan — Wolf said her constituents are “desirous of some certainty” and that her goal on Tuesday was “to attempt to bring some measure of 10
THE INDEPENDENT
march 20, 2014
closure” to the matter by requesting a permit for the 1,200 feet of rocks and nothing more. “I know this alternative is one that may come as a surprise to many and a disappointment to some,” she said. The option chosen, known in Goleta Beach Park project parlance as Alternative , was one of seven the board could have forwarded to the Coastal Commission. The most controversial among them was the project’s environmental-study–recommended “managed retreat” scheme, which would have seen the removal of the 1,200 feet of rocks, the loss (and later potential relocation) of more than 100 parking spots, the transplantation of gas and water lines and the Highway –adjacent bike path, and the damage to nearly three acres of the grassy park for the benefit of the sandy beach.
Four of the other choices involved simply removing the rocks, removing them but installing a wave-energy-deflecting cobble berm, keeping the rocks but moving them park-ward over time, and — in the plan supported by Friends of Goleta Beach and the City of Goleta — retaining the rocks in place for 20 years while other protective measures, such as a cobble berm and Canary Island date palm trees, were analyzed. (The seventh option would have combined aspects of the other six proposals.) The “managed retreat” plan would have cost the county more than $4 million, and the most expensive measure would have cost nearly $23 million. To keep the rocks will cost nothing.
“It seems like a three-time winner to me,” said rd District Supervisor Doreen Farr after quickly seconding Wolf’s proposal. Farr, acknowledging the “passion” evoked by the issue, explained her vote for keeping the rocks as one based on what’s best for visitors, the environment, and the county’s finances. Supervisors Salud Carbajal, Steve Lavagnino, and Peter Adam all concurred but declined to say much. Those who did say much included representatives from the City of Goleta, which has long voiced its support for retaining the rocks and last week threatened the county with legal action over its handling of the project’s process. Councilmember Roger Aceves, who is challenging Wolf for her seat in the June primary and announced his candidacy in September at the beach, said that people want the park and its amenities to be protected.“It’s not about the beach; it’s about the park,” he said.“That’s what 1.5 million people per year expect, for the park to be saved.” Aceves also addressed several supervisors individually, asking Carbajal and Farr about the protections in their districts. To Adam, Aceves mentioned the millions of dollars the other plans would cost, possibly to the financial detriment of maintaining county-owned roads, buildings, and parks — a cause Adam is taking to the June ballot in Measure M. “If we retain the rocks, we will lose the beach,” countered Brian Trautwein of the EDC. “We’ve done soul-searching,” he continued, saying the EDC were willing to give up the “managed retreat” plan. The EDC’s “middle of the road” approach would have involved installing the aforementioned cobble berm but removing the rocks and some parking spots and relocating the utility lines. Farr challenged Trautwein on whether the Coastal Commission would approve a cobble berm. Whether the Coastal Commission will approve a permit for the rocks remains to be seen. If they do, the decision will head back to the County Planning Commission, whose say will be final unless appealed to either the supervisors or the Coastal Commission. ■
PAU L WELLM AN PHOTOS
By KELSEY BRUGGER, TYLER HAYDEN, LYZ HOFFMAN, MATT KETTMANN, and NICK WELSH, with INDEPENDENT STAFF
news briefs LAW & DISORDER
The criminal elder-abuse case against Rosemary Baugh was suspended 3/17 to allow two psychiatrists to evaluate her for competency after she was admitted into the county’s inpatient Psychiatric Health Facility (PHF) last week. She had pleaded guilty in January to charges of financial elder abuse and perjury. Baugh’s sentencing has been scheduled and postponed several times after a judge said her plea deal was too lenient and transferred the case. In 2011, Baugh became the caretaker for an 80-year-old man who suffers from dementia. Over the course of 18 months, she stole approximately $700,000 from him. The UCSB Police Department has released its report on the confrontation between Professor Mireille Miller-Young and a group of anti-abortion activists who call themselves the Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust. In the report, MillerYoung, who is pregnant, said she was “triggered” by the graphic images of aborted fetuses on the large posters and had a “moral right” to grab and destroy one of the posters to protect herself and her students from the upsetting photographs. She likened her actions to those of a “conscientious objector.” The report was forwarded to the District Attorney’s Office for possible prosecution. Read the full story at independent.com. A hiker died on Cold Spring Trail this week as he attempted to get help for his female companion after they both suffered serious injuries in a fall. Authorities said 22-year-old Brenden Vega and 22-year-old Saylor Guilliams, both from Ventura, set out on the trail at around 4 p.m. on 3/16 and fell approximately 45 minutes later. Guilliams suffered two broken ankles and a broken wrist, and Vega sustained a severe arm injury. After calling for help for several hours, Vega left Guilliams to seek help but soon fell off a rocky ledge and was killed. Vega’s body was found by hikers the next morning; Guilliams was found in the late afternoon and airlifted to Cottage Hospital, where she’s recovering from her injuries. Lompoc resident Kuriyan Summers-Dickinson, who allegedly stabbed a man in the stomach in Isla Vista last weekend, had his charges reduced from attempted murder to assault with a deadly weapon and infliction of great bodily injury. He pleaded not guilty to the charges this week, but his bail was increased to $110,000. If convicted, Summers-Dickinson faces up to seven years in prison. The victim, a 20-year-old Rhode Island resident in town visiting his brother for the weekend, was admitted to Cottage Hospital in critical condition but has since been stabilized.
CITY After a series of leadership changes and tragedies at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum in recent years — including the death in April 2012 of then-director David Bisol — a new executive director was named this week after an extensive nationwide search involving more than 80 candidates. Lynn Brittner arrived on the job at the downtown museum on 3/17, bringing with her more than 25 years in museum management experience, including the past 13 years at the Southern Ute Cultural Center and Museum in