The Land Trust for Santa Barbara County announced that Michael Towbes, chairman of Montecito Bank & Trust, has donated $50,000 to its capital campaign to purchase the 462-acre Hot Springs Canyon property.
The property went into escrow in March for $8.5 million, but the Land Trust must raise nearly $2 million by Dec. 15 or risk losing the option to buy it.
“It’s been used by the public for many years pretty much at the acquiescence of the (owning) family, but if the owner changed or their attitude changed, it could become unavailable,” Towbes said.
He said that given the property’s location as the backdrop of Montecito, the rugged terrain making development difficult and its long history in Santa Barbara, it is ideal for preservation.
Towbes said he has hiked through the area and believes it would be a shame to see it developed.
Michael Feeney, executive director of the Land Trust, said that by working with people such as Towbes who are well-respected and networked into Santa Barbara’s philanthropic community, he is confident the trust can secure more sizable donations.
The Hot Springs Canyon property has been owned by the McCaslin family since 1962 and has six parcels zoned for residential use. There are also 20 acres zoned for a private day spa under a conditional use permit. The Santa Barbara County Assessor’s Office values the undeveloped land at $2,498,356.
“I think we are particularly fortunate because speculators aren’t interested in developing the foothills because of the way the economy is right now,” Feeney said.
Kerry Mormann, the property’s Realtor and a former director of the Land Trust, said he doesn’t want to see the property developed but that many people have expressed interest. He said one group was even interested in building a private hiking club.
The Land Trust hired engineering firm Penfield &Smith to conduct a development report that estimated the cost of installing roads, utilities and a bridge for the building sites at $5 million.
“That’s doable for a property of that size in Montecito,” Mormann said.
Leslie Turnbull, campaign coordinator for Hot Springs Canyon, has been hiking Santa Barbara’s foothills as long as she can remember. The fourth-generation Santa Barbaran also supported the Land Trust’s purchase of the Carpinteria bluffs.
Any development, even with easements, would have a direct impact on the hikers who have used the area for free, unlimited recreation, she said.
“Some of those trails would be re-routed because nobody wants hikers walking through their backyard,” Turnbull said.
Hot Springs Canyon serves as the link between public trails in the San Ysidro and Cold Springs canyons, Feeney said.
If the remaining funds are raised, the plan is to turn the property over to the U.S. Forest Service and incorporate it into Los Padres National Forest, said Feeney, adding that the Land Trust rarely has the money to manage the properties it buys.
The water rights to the famous hot springs would remain with the Montecito Creek Water Co.
To help get the public excited about preserving Hot Springs Canyon, the Land Trust plans to host guided hikes through the area starting in September.
“At this point, it’s up to the community to decide if it’s worth it,” Feeney said.
— Noozhawk intern Daniel Langhorne can be reached at news@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Become a fan of Noozhawk on Facebook.