A Summerland farm’s objections to a nearby home’s landscaping were heard by the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission on Wednesday.
The 2325 Ortega Ranch Road home was built in 2018, and its landscaping plan did not include the dozens of trees planted more recently, according to county staff.
Owners Chris and Carolyn Von Der Ahe applied for a coastal development permit to allow the already-planted landscaping and get permission to build a therapy swing for their daughter, a pergola shade structure, a storage shed and a 120-square-foot greenhouse.
That permit was approved by Planning & Development staff and then appealed by the farm next door at Temple and Whitney streets. Planning commissioners heard from the applicants and appellants at Wednesday’s meeting and then voted to deny the appeal.
Representatives of the Santa Barbara Agriculture and Farm Education Foundation Inc. organic farm are concerned that pesticide use and tree shade from the neighboring property will negatively impact their operation. They also claimed that the landscaping increased water runoff onto the farm property, according to the appeal.
“This is different than any other farm in the county,” farm CEO Leslie Person Ryan said.
The foundation purchased the property from the Carpinteria Unified School District in 2021 after about 18 months of leasing it. It has a farm stand in town and donates fresh fruit and vegetables to medically fragile locals, she said.
The stone pine and pepper trees on the home’s property and bay laurels along the property line were added without permits, and the last of them were added in late 2021, according to Eva Turenchalk, representing Chris and Carolyn Von Der Ahe.
When the Von Der Ahes heard that the property was for sale and may be developed, they planted trees so they would have a “nice privacy screen,” Turenchalk said, adding that when it was “brought to their attention” that they needed a permit to plant the trees, they applied for one.
To the pesticide concerns, Turenchalk said the homeowners use only organic products.
A Planning & Development staff presentation addressed and dismissed the appeal issues, and said the project meets county requirements.
Commissioners agreed. They voted 5-0 to deny the appeal and approve the project permit.
“Whether or not these neighbors get along in terms of day-to-day interactions is not our issue,” Commissioner Michael Cooney said.
Commissioner Laura Bridley said neighbors within the notification radius of the home’s project were overwhelmingly supportive of it.
“I think this totally demonstrates our continual land use conflict between residential and agricultural uses,” Bridley said.
The Sweet Wheel Farm is a “wonderful operation,” Bridley said. “I completely support that, but I don’t think it should be afforded some sort of specific veil of protection because it is choosing to use a residentially-zoned site for agriculture. Unfortunately, it comes with this problem.”
Commissioners also said they hoped the parties could come to some agreement to settle their dispute, such as trimming trees to a certain height to deal with shade impacts.
“It’s a sad dispute,” commission chair John Parke said.
Commissioner Larry Ferini noted that the farm may have to implement buffers along their property lines for their organic farm certification, which Ryan said they’re pursuing now.