Haskell's Beach Under Siege!
by Nathan Post
MAKING WAVES, March 1998
Destroying more coastal habitat
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As anyone who has been following events at Haskell's Beach knows, developers are busy carrying out Phase I of the massive Santa Barbara Club Resort & Spa hotel project. Phase I includes construction of the access road, Tecolote Creek & Bell Canyon Bridges, and installation of retaining walls. Developers are hoping that financing for the massive project will arrive in time for Phase II which entails construction of the hotel itself. While residents await Tynan and Company's next move, much of Haskell's Beach natural habitat has been literally devastated by the massive grading permitted in Phase I of the project. Undisturbed by public concerns over ham-handed development techniques, which include the destruction of hundreds of mature trees, a Monarch Butterfly habitat and roost, and reaching what the United States Fish and Wildlife Department refer to as a "maximum take" for an endangered species (10 rare Red-Legged Frogs have been destroyed), Tynan and Associates have worked frantically to fulfill several conditions that are required to be met prior to the issuance of a Land Use Permit (LUP) for Phase II of the project. These efforts have prompted at least one prominent on-site monitor to describe the site as "out of control" and to characterize Santa Barbara Club Resort & Spa's on-site representative as "contentious". Haskell's Beach is located on the south side of U.S. Highway 101. approximately one mile west of Winchester Road. The site is bounded on the east by Bell Creek. The western boundary is defined by a row of trees bordering an adjacent rural parcel. Nature has created a natural amphitheater at Haskell's Beach bisected by Tecolote Creek, and largely defined by it's gently sloping central valley which extends from the top of the property, on the mountain side, to the sea below. The valley is flanked by two marine terraces rising nearly 100 feet above sea level. Steep cliffs, up to 95 feet, with slopes up to 100% define much of the southern boundary line. In addition to it's dramatic landscape, Haskell's Beach features a brackish marsh, a low-coastal dune system, and a prominent Monarch roost which was recently destroyed by the developer. Several local, state and federally listed protected or endangered species have been destroyed on-site, and in areas within the vicinity of the site. These include the Monarch Butterfly, the Southwestern Pond Turtle, the California Red-Legged Frog, the Coast Horned Lizard, the Tidewater Goby, the Greenbacked Heron, the Western Snowy Plover, and the White-tailed Kite. On Friday, December 5th, despite several outstanding issues, the County of Santa Barbara issued a "Notice of Final Approval/Issuance of a Land Use Permit for Phase II of the Santa Barbara Club Resort and Spa project which includes construction and operation of the resort hotel and associated improvements. If financing for the project becomes available, construction of the giant resort could begin immediately. According to the Notice of Final Approval issued by the Planning & Development department, the permit for Phase II of the project is not appealable to the County or to the California Coastal Commission. Any challenge must be filed in Superior Court. Over the centuries the site has been used for a variety of purposes including a prominent Native American Chumash village, kelp processing, oil storage and extraction, agriculture and recreation. In 1969 the site was purchased by the Wallover Corporation as part of a 1143 acre holding in Tecolote Canyon. In 1975 a proposal to build 153 clustered townhouses on the site was denied by the County of Santa Barbara based on inconsistencies with the County's proposed Local Coastal Plan (LCP). In 1976, the California Coastal Commission recommended that Haskell's Beach be purchased for public recreation and zoned 1-A. Between 1977 and 1979 the State Legislature appropriated 2.3 million dollars to be used by the California Department of Parks and Recreation to acquire a portion of the site for recreational purposes. The proposed purchase was abandoned in 1980 due to the owner's unwillingness to sell at the appraised value. In 1983, Wallover Inc. and Hyatt Corporation jointly filed an application with the County for a preliminary Development Plan and a rezone seeking approval of a 524 room destination resort. Despite the fact that the County Planning Commission denied the project in October of 1984, the request was heard on appeal and approved by the County Board of Supervisors in May of 1985, the County submitted the LCP to the Coastal Commission for certification. In it's resubmittal, the County proposed redesignating Haskell's Beach as "Visitor Serving Commercial" and recommended inclusion of the site into the Goleta urban planning area. This ultimately resulted in the extension of the urban limit line one mile west to Winchester Canyon road, where it manages to miraculously loop up and around to include Haskell's Beach. For as long as anyone can remember Haskell's Beach has been seen as a place where Santa Barbarans could get away from it all: Away from the cars, the traffic, from civilization. It was a place where a lone hiker, or surfer could find solitude, a sense of spirituality and peace. It might be described as the gateway to the largely undeveloped Gaviota Coast. Now that it is threatened by a $400 a night luxury resort that has been described in County documents as "marginally economically feasible". Isolated, flanked by two oil facilities, one of which emits odors akin to rotten eggs, fronted by cold water, and plagued by globs of tar resulting from oil seepage, it is a wonder that anyone would want to build a resort on this site. While cold water and tar does little to deter surfers, will visitors to Santa Barbara be willing to pay hundreds of dollars a night to sleep near an oil pier whose concrete pylons stand in 55 degree water? The Santa Barbara Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation needs your help in monitoring over 150 Conditions of Approval for the Haskell's Beach Project. If you would like to help save the Gaviota Coast please contact the Santa Barbara Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation at P.O. Box 21703, Santa Barbara, CA 93121-1703, or E-Mail me at NPost31229@aol.com. |
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