The County’s adopted plan for More Mesa permits construction of 70 mansions on 40 acres. Based on recent trends in area home sizes, this plan could permit 350,000 or more square feet of development on the eastern end of More Mesa, development of similar size to the big box mall in Goleta. How would you strengthen the county’s zoning and land use plans to protect More Mesa from development?
Joe Guzzardi: We must be careful not to downsize too much. This could open the County to a lawsuit. I do not believe that any new policies are required. We need to strengthen existing ones.
Das Williams: Visual resource policies need to be established. Minimizing the number and size of big houses will not only protect visual resources, but prevent excessive escalation of property values; and also keep the cost of acquiring More Mesa from escalating as well.
Janet Wolf: We need new design standards to ensure maintaining the character of our neighborhoods. Issues that should be considered are height, size, color and number of stories. There should be zoning adjustments similar to those being proposed for the San Marcos Foothills.
Dan Secord: “There are adequate regulations in place today. These are described in the 1993 Goleta Community Plan, pages 48-54, which needs updating. The language contained within the Gaviota Coast Study Group 2005 report, pg 7, 23 and 24, which I support, refers to methods of preservation which could operate here.”