Two groups seek to sway Goleta Growth Plan

As Goleta officials craft the city’s first general plan for growth, two organizations are launching independent efforts to envision the area’s future. Goleta Valley Vision is the name that the Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce recently coined for its new effort — one similar to the Sustainability Project’s Blueprint for a Sustainable Goleta Valley, which also is gaining momentum.

Each effort aims to influence the official Goleta general plan, but also will consider issues beyond the city borders spilling into the greater Goleta Valley. Each comes as the city braces for tough land-use decisions fueled by the dwindling availability of affordable housing and vacant land suitable for new home construction across the South Coast

The parallel efforts, with the chamber focused largely on economics and the Sustainability Project on how neighborhoods interact with the environment, are unusual. Goleta Mayor Cynthia Brock noted that other new cities undergoing general plan creation have not faced similar movements.

But those behind the efforts describe them as critical and timely, noting that the Goleta general plan will hold sway for the next couple decades. “Who do we want to be?” is a largely unanswered question, said Kristen Amyx, Goleta chamber president and CEO. “We feel we can accomplish a good portion of this project in the next — six to eight months.”

A major goal is to sort through changes in population and the business climate expected to confront the region, which includes UCSB, the Santa Barbara Municipal Airport and unincorporated county land. The chamber project will look particularly at the future of housing, jobs, land use and community character, she said.

“It just seems like everybody is looking around, saying, ‘The middle-class, family-oriented Goleta that I grew up with and loved is disappearing.” Ms. Amyx said. “The trend is that it’s being replaced with retirees and wealthy people.”

The chamber, which represents 500 employers, will hold a second meeting on its project in the middle of the month, and conduct a survey at the end to gather input.

“Part of our process in doing this is to also monitor the city’s general plan process,” Ms. Amyx said, adding that city officials have not sought much from the chamber for a recent series of so-called general plan background reports on housing, economics and area resources. "I read the one on jobs and the economy and I think, well, they didn’t ask me for any information."

"We think our responsibility is to provide them with clear, concise and accurate feedback and recommendations for them to use in writing the general plan."

A general plan is a state-mandated document focused on noise, traffic and land-use rules. Officials in Goleta, which incorporated in early 2002, expect to receive a common two-year extension to complete their plan, which initially was due Aug. 1.

The Sustainability Project’s effort will focus on economics, the environment, open space, housing and basic services, said Vijaya Jammalamadaka, president of the nonprofit organization.

The Blueprint for a Sustainable Goleta Valley will feature summer workshops leading to the release, most likely by early fall, of a map to represent visually what the future of Goleta might look like, planners say.

Ms. Jammalamadaka described a “sustainable” Goleta with features that perhaps include neighborhoods where more people walk, use mass transit or otherwise do not depend on an automobile. These might also include higher density dwellings that suggest a more European architectural approach.

She said she hopes the blueprint will influence the city general plan. "We’re not saying we’re usurping your process at all. This is a parallel sort of overall process."

Mayor Cynthia Brock said Goleta welcomes general plan input from all community members. ‘These efforts are going to go on,”