Pop star Katy Perry and her sister, Angela Lerche, want to build the Gratitude Canyon arts and nature youth camp in the Goleta Valley. 

However, more than 360 neighbors have signed a petition against the camp, citing noise and fire safety concerns. 

The sisters’ Firework Foundation proposes building eight cabins, tennis courts, counselor housing, a gymnasium, a dining hall, a pool and a recording studio by subdividing the 110-acre property at 183 Winchester Canyon Road, according to the project documents.  

Only 3% of the site would be devoted to the camp structures, with the majority remaining open landscape, according to the project website.

The project is still in the early review process with Santa Barbara County, with planners requesting additional information for the application. 

Additionally, the environmental scoping hearing is expected to occur early next year, and the environmental impact report process has not started, a spokesperson said.

Gratitude Canyon would give Camp Firework, which operates other youth sleepaway camps, a permanent home in the sisters’ hometown. 

The project was before the Santa Barbara County South Board of Architectural Review in June.

Board member Valerie Frosch called the building’s design “beautiful” and said the proposed camp is “quite likely the lowest impact” that neighboring residents would “ever get.”

Local nonprofits including Girls Inc. of Greater Santa Barbara and United Boys & Girls Club Santa Barbara have also thrown their support behind the foundation’s initiatives and partnership. 

The nonprofits were among those who recently participated in Firework Foundation’s 12th Camp Firework this month, which brought together 85 local youth. 

Still, neighbors are sounding the alarm, and some suggest the nonprofit support existing local youth camps. 

Resident Jen Lilienstein is the one who created the online campaign against the camp, using artificial intelligence, but she told Noozhawk it is a neighborhood effort. 

Five petitioners and neighbors sat down with Noozhawk earlier this week to discuss their concerns. 

“We have zero problem with (Katy giving back to the community),” resident Sandra McGreevy told Noozhawk. 

They added they all love kids but would rather the proposed camp move sites.

The neighbors are trying to mobilize the three neighborhoods near the property to stand with them, according to resident Becky Davis.

One of those neighborhoods is Winchester Commons. Its homeowners association recently submitted a letter to the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission about the project. 

“Our greatest concern is the permanent change in the intensity and character of activity that this project would introduce immediately adjacent to established residential neighborhoods,” the letter said.

Residents Say Neighborhood Would Become Noisy

Gratitude Canyon asserts sound would be limited to “normal” camp activities, including singing, skits and “brief” public address uses.

But residents say this would disrupt their neighborhood, which they described as quiet, safe and close-knit.

“The canyon is a naturally occurring bowl,” Lilienstein said. “We can hear waves at night when it’s really quiet.” 

She said any amplified noise coming from the youth camp would “reverberate” around them.

“We are middle-class people who can’t afford to just pick up and move somewhere else because this happens,” Lilienstein said. 

However, camp officials said acoustic modeling showed sound at the nearest property boundary would fall under the county benchmark and the camp would have quiet hours.

Neighbors Raise Fire Concerns

Another neighborhood concern is the camp’s effect on fire risk and evacuation plans, Davis said.

There is one street to get in and out of the neighborhood, raising concerns about evacuation access in the event of a fire, she explained.

The petition claims the fire consultant’s analysis did not evaluate the full scope of attendees on the property and only considered one adjacent neighborhood. 

The Santa Barbara County Fire Department, former Santa Barbara County Emergency Management director, and former San Luis Obispo Fire chief have been consulting on the project, including fire safety and vegetation management plans, according to the Gratitude Canyon team.

Neighbors Worry About Off-Season Events, Project Noticing

Residents also raised an issue with the possible special events that could be held at the property from September to May. 

A maximum of four special events can be held per year, capped at 400 people in attendance, according to the project website. 

“The idea of a nature camp is not a bad one, but why is there this thing in the application about other events,” resident Deborah Holmes said.

She also questioned who would be in charge of monitoring them.

Another neighbor, Maureen O’ Brien, voiced concerns about people parking in the neighborhood during events. 

Neighbors have also claimed the project has inconsistent noticing, since some residents received mailers about it and some did not. 

But the project team contends that outreach went beyond the county’s required 300-foot notification radius. 

The team expanded its outreach to a 1,000-foot radius using voter-registration records. 

“This was an entirely separate initiative from the county’s formal noticing process and was supplemented by multiple onsite gatherings, property tours, Zoom meetings, HOA presentations and a dedicated project website and newsletter,” a spokesperson told Noozhawk in an email.

The spokesperson added that voter-registration records may not have matched the county’s property owner database.