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Santa Ynez Valley Concerned Citizens P.O. Box 244 Santa Ynez, CA 93460 |
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Under terms of the deal published in local newspapers in March 2004, Parker would sell the Chumash tribe 745 acres for $12 million and a 49% share of the housing and resort development. (The tribe already operates a casino and hotel about two miles from the Parker property.) Parker, an actor-turned-developer, hotelier and winemaker, has tried unsuccessfully to develop this parcel himself, but his ambitious plans would fail the test of California’s Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). For one thing, the agricultural parcel is zoned for no more than 7 homes—far short of the hundreds Parker and the Chumash want to build. But by teaming up with a federally recognized Indian tribe like the Santa Ynez Chumash, Parker can take advantage of the tribe’s sovereignty and apply to the U.S Bureau of Indian Affairs to put the land into trust—ignoring the Valley’s tradition of community planning and skirting California’s rigorous land-use and environmental laws to build whatever he and his partners desire. Plus, tribe-owned land is exempt from property taxes—even though Santa Barbara County would still be responsible for providing the area with fire and sheriff’s protection, road maintenance and other services. Since Fess Parker and the Chumash tribe added this project to their master development plan for the Santa Ynez Valley, more than a thousand Valley residents and businesspeople have objected, as have many others throughout Santa Barbara County and California. This coalition, led by Santa Ynez Valley Concerned Citizens, believes:
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