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UPDATES INFORMATIVE LINKS INFORMATIVE ARTICLES Testimony to Senate Committee |
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To fund our grassroots campaign, we need your
donations!
Santa Ynez Valley Concerned Citizens P.O. Box 244 Santa Ynez, CA 93460 |
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The Santa Ynez Valley of Concerned Citizens was created in 2000 to represent
and articulate local stakeholders responses to and concerns with the
ever-evolving land use development plans of the Santa Ynez Band of Mission
Indians. Of particular concern were the applications for the taking of
public, taxable lands from Fee to Trust, and their proposed uses and impacts
to the community.
To that end, our campaign began to uphold the Santa Ynez Valley's tradition of sound community planning and hold all developers to the same land-use laws and environmental regulations. More than 1,000 people strong, we are Valley residents and ranchers, businesspeople, conservationists, in addition to residents from other areas of Santa Barbara County. Lompoc City Council to Vote re: Annexation This coming Tuesday (Dec 20, 2011), the Lompoc City Council will be asked to vote in support of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians annexation of 1,400 acres in the Santa Ynez Valley. The Solvang council has already refused to support this Chumash desire for annexation. Further, the citizenry of the Santa Ynez Valley are overwhelmingly opposed to the annexation. Annexation permanently removes property from compliance with county development laws, and, most importantly, removes the land from the county tax base. This reduction in tax revenue, in turn, affects tax-funded services, such as school programs, public safety services, and social services countywide including Lompoc. Further information on the negative impact annexation of this 1,400-acre Camp 4 property would have can be found in the Santa Ynez Valley News Dec. 8 commentary written by county Supervisor Doreen Farr, wherein she urges the Chumash to not pursue annexation of the property. Please contact your council members and ask them to abstain from supporting this costly annexation request that benefits a few, at the expense of all taxpayers. September 30, 2011 Community Matters, Article by Greg Simon of Santa Ynez Valley News Video of the Town Hall Meeting of August 26 is available here: SYVCC & Coalition Remarks to Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, 9/6/2011 "Goodbye Santa Ynez Valley, Hello Casino Town". See this attachment regarding a scheduled Town Hall Meeting on August 26, 2011 at 6:00pm regarding the attempt by the Chumash to take 1400 acres at the intersection of Highways 154/246 out of County jurisdiction and into Federal "trust". Please see the attachment to view a proposal recently submitted to the CEO of Santa Barbara County by the Chumash Tribe. Please read this entire document as it is self explanatory 
At the right is a picture that was taken of a map on Fess Parker's office wall
when he was involved with the Tribe in attempting to develop 745 acres, a
little over half of what the Tribe eventually purchased, on the North/East
corner of Highways 154 and 246. Click on image for larger
version.The red arrows were not originally on the map but were added to show the intersection of the highways and to show where the Tribe and Parker had planned to build a new hotel/casino. According to their Compact, which expires December 31, 2020, with the State of CA, the Tribe is allowed two casinos. There is no reason to think anything has changed in regard to what the Tribe would build if the land was taken into Trust. If the Tribe is allowed to develop the 1400 acres, which is almost the size of the City of Solvang, the negative impact on this Valley, as well as Santa Barbara County finances, would be enormous. The increase in traffic, loss of property tax revenue, environmental degradation and resultant reduction in property valuations are only a few of the profoundly negative consequences. The net result would be the permanent loss of the Santa Ynez Valley as we know and love it. There is a coalition of groups in the valley being chaired by SYV Concerned Citizens, that has been formed to do everything possible to ensure that the County does not enter into this or any similar proposal. We are also actively working to see that the 1400 acres does not go into Federal Trust. (Federal Trust status would permanently remove the property from all local tax obligations, as well as all local zoning & control, in addition to vastly increasing demands upon local infrastructure and services.) As this situation progresses we will keep you informed. Anyone who would like to assist financially at this time can make a donation to SYV Concerned Citizens ( Make a Donation to SYV Concerned Citizens , a 501c(4) non-profit organization, or WE Watch http://www.we-watch.org/join-us/ , a 501c(3) non-profit organization. If you do make a donation to either group please state on your donation the money is to be used for the 1400 acre parcel issue.
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The addition of the Mission Indians Casino to the Valley
has had both positive and negative impacts
on the area. The Santa Ynez Band of Mission
Indians have had great success operating their
casino on Highway 246, and we support the tribe's
efforts to ensure their long-term prosperity by diversifying their economy
beyond gambling.