The Shelby Foothills Coalition is pleased to announce that it has received a grant of $8,900 from The Fund for Santa Barbara.

The coalition is a consortium of community and environmental groups, along with private citizens, formed to protect open space, agricultural land, biological resources and community character from the adverse impacts of excessive and unplanned development such as the proposed Shelby development.


It will use the donated funds to inform the public, lobby officials and develop and implement a legal strategy to stop unwise and harmful development, primarily in the City of Goleta.

The citizens’ groups that comprise the Shelby Foothills Coalition include Citizens Planning Association of Santa Barbara County, League of Women Voters of Santa Barbara, The Goodland Coalition, Santa Barbara Audubon Society, Santa Barbara County Action Network and Santa Barbara Urban Creeks Council. Other individuals and neighborhood groups also support the coalition.

The Shelby development proposes to build 60 expensive houses on a 14-acre parcel between Cathedral Oaks Road and Glen Annie Golf Course, just west of Dos Pueblos High School.

This proposed development would require the City of Goleta’s City Council to amend Goleta’s General Plan and re-zone the property from agricultural to residential.

The Shelby project would diminish a scenic corridor and cause urban sprawl north of Cathedral Oaks Road, the widely recognized urban limit line. 

If approved, the Shelby project could set a precedent for further land rezoning and development in the Goleta foothills, with many repercussions for the local way of life.

The Shelby project has many significant negative impacts, including permanent loss of mountain views, agricultural land and ecological resources and habitats, as well as significant increases in traffic, noise and air pollution.

In addition, the Shelby project violates the Goleta General Plan and California environmental policy by proposing new housing without adequate water.

Goleta currently has over 1,000 residential units approved or under construction. Its citizens have made clear that they do not want the further loss of open space and environmental amenities.

— Stephen Ferry represents the Shelby Foothills Coalition.