Last week’s special hearing of the Goleta City Council marked another major positive step in the thorough process of creating a great plan for the city.
Leading up to the General Plan — back in 2004, 2005 and 2006 — a number of meetings were held, with a lot of public input. That input was civil, respectful, thoughtful and fact-based. At the Jan. 17 hearing, however, many of the public comments were fraught with sarcasm, hyperbole and hostility.
The plan that was passed in 2006 was a very flawed document that had many people very upset. It set up the wrong kind of future for Goleta, it was inconsistent and contradictory, and it did not establish policies that would allow our city to manage our growth.
This City Council vowed to fix it, and the council is doing just that — methodically, with continued public input and with moderation.
The amendments proposed by staff are not “gutting the General Plan.” They are truly a refined set of edits that make the smallest changes possible while still fixing the problems.
One sensed that underlying the comments of a number of the Jan. 17 speakers was a rejection of the idea that the General Plan policies need to be amended at all. As far as these speakers were concerned, the old policies are perfect because they effectively create a moratorium on any private development. The current plan contains a number of “poison pill” policies that, when taken together, virtually kills any private development project. The Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce and many others pointed this out over and over during the previous process and regular citizens of Goleta agreed that such policies were not acceptable.
The reason the current City Council is amending the General Plan has nothing to do with growth. It has everything to do with good planning. Goleta is not a rural setting anymore. It is an urban/suburban area, home to thriving industries; a wide variety of homes, including extensive traditional suburban housing tracts; and a significant range of cultural and recreational activities. Adopting policies that are more attuned to a rural county or a community where no one has to work for a living makes no sense at all. As an example, having Conservation Element policies that treat Old Town Goleta as a setting exactly the same as the Ellwood Preserve do not recognize the vitality and breadth of the Goleta community.
The Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce’s mission focus is the economic vitality of Goleta and the policies we will need to sustain and encourage economic activity. The Chamber recognizes the fiscal constraints facing the city, caused in no small part by the Revenue Neutrality Agreement with Santa Barbara County, and we do not want to see further degradation of Goleta’s ability to deliver quality urban services. This cannot be done unless the city’s economy can thrive.
None of the policies being debated for amendment create growth. There are always legitimate issues for public debate about whether a particular proposed project provides enough benefit to merit approval. Nothing in the proposed General Plan amendments limits the Goleta’s discretion to deny any particular proposal if it fails to provide adequate benefit or fails to properly protect the city’s resources.
When the city of Goleta incorporated, it was by choice — to pursue an urban/suburban model of living. Urban areas are places where people congregate for economic, educational, recreational and cultural activities. This is what defines a true community. If the desire was to have something other than that, Goleta citizens would have rejected cityhood and remained residents of unincorporated Santa Barbara County, with regulations suitable for an unincorporated status and no common commitment to enhanced life together in all spheres of activity.
The City Council can be proud of the professional and deliberate way in which city staff has processed the General Plan amendments. They have a moderate, thoughtful and deliberate process for amending the General Plan and I applaud them and the staff for it.
Kristen Amyx is president and CEO of the Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce.