The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday advanced the Goleta Beach 2.0 plan to environmental review.
The plan to address erosion at the popular Goleta Beach Park has gone through different forms, but the current proposal would demolish parking spaces, relocated underground utilities, relocate the bike path and remove most of the rock revetment placed under emergency permits from the California Coastal Commission.
Now, county staff will solicit bids for an environmental impact report.
The county already spent $75,000 on engineering studies, and the EIR is likely to cost $250,000 to $300,000, according to a staff report. Construction alone would carry a $3.5 million price tag.
Friends of Goleta Beach Park has advocated for an erosion-prevention measure not included in the existing plan. The group offered to donate 12 palm trees to plant at the high-tide line, ideally to prevent further erosion, modeled after Refugio State Beach.
Ed de la Torre, a resident involved in the project for a decade, said the group just wants palm trees to be considered in environmental studies.
The Santa Barbara Surfrider Foundation and the Environmental Defense Center support the plan, and representatives said they have no problem with the trees being evaluated.
“We want it to move forward,” EDC analyst Brian Trautwein said.
The trees are not included in the board-approved conceptual plan that is being studied, but the public can make suggestions at workshops to be scheduled during the review process, Second District Supervisor Janet Wolf said.
Specifics of Goleta Beach 2.0 weren’t discussed at Tuesday’s meeting.
— Noozhawk staff writer Giana Magnoli can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
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