santa ynez community plan

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Santa Ynez Community Plan
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Bailey Avenue
Goleta Valley Community Plan
Agricultural Permit Streamlining (LUDC)

The first community planning effort undertaken by the OPEN program was the Santa Ynez Community Plan (SYCP). Prior to OPEN’s involvement, the County was poised to adopt an alternative for the SYCP that would have allowed for more subdivisions in the Valley as well as zoning designations that would have ultimately conflicted with the long-term viability and compatibility of agricultural uses. OPEN staff prepared a comment letter that inventoried the planning area and provided extensive and detailed recommendations (by parcel). This letter addressed spot zoning from the prior SYCP update as well as suggested changes to the recommendations that were contained in the EIR prepared for the project. Specifically, the letter highlighted the need to preserve agriculture in the Valley and pointed out inappropriate zoning choices contained in the original EIR alternative that was moving through the County’s adoption process. Ultimately, the alternative that was recommended by the OPEN program for downzoning (less subdivision allowances) rather than upzoning was embraced by both the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors. As a result, the rural agricultural character of the area will be better preserved for the timeframe of the SYCP (approximately a 20 year timeframe).