Carpinteria’s potential acquisition of 21.2 acres of land on the Carpinteria Bluffs is consistent with the city’s General Plan, the Planning Commission decided on Monday night.
The commission voted 5-0 to move forward with the acquisition of the Rincon Bluffs Preserve, which will be kept as passive open space forever.
The city is in the process of purchasing the property from The Land Trust for Santa Barbara County, with funding help from three government grants.
The land will be rezoned from its current Visitor-Serving Commercial and Resort District to Open Space and Recreation, and eventually will include a parking area, restroom, fencing coastal overlooks, and upgrades to the Carpinteria Coastal Vista Trail.
The city also plans to complete trail restoration, remove some invasive species, restore and create more environmentally-sensitive habitat
“We’re not going to see a hotel on this property,” Planning Commissioner David Allen said.
The Land Trust in 2016 launched a campaign to purchase the Rincon Bluffs Preserve. Eventually, the Citizens for the Carpinteria Bluffs, the City of Carpinteria, the County of Santa Barbara, the Land Trust and more than 1,300 community members raised $7.9 million to purchase the property.
The commission members were short and sweet in their support of the preservation of the land.
“Sounds good to me,” Commissioner Jane Benefield said.
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
