Gaviotia layout 4 - PM 7.0 - Ocean and Coastal Policy Center ...

Introduction
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Executive Summary
The Gaviota Study Group offers its key recommendations and policy concepts in five areas
in this report: protecting agriculture, stewarding the land, developing land use policy, creating
public access, and providing effective local governance. As you read the report, we ask
that you keep in mind several themes that are central to our thinking:
■ While there may be a fair degree of consensus about the kind of future most people
envision for Gaviota, it must be recognized that a high level of mistrust and
misinformation pervades our community. It will be difficult, but necessary, to overcome
the polarization and fear that has characterized our past, and to bring together
agricultural, environmental and governmental interests.
■ These recommendations work together as a package, not as a menu. No member of
the group agrees with all positions or recommendations in the report, yet all members
endorse the complementary framework of ideas and policies. Taken together and
implemented effectively, the elements of this report fairly address the needs and
concerns of all the interests represented. We urge readers to reserve their judgment
on the broad framework of this report when they encounter isolated elements not to
their liking.
■ New and better policies and tools are needed to protect the character and values
inherent in public and private land on the Gaviota Coast. These policies and tools
must assure landowners and residents that they will have a significant role in determining
their own future, and at the same time must foster confidence within the larger community
that agreed upon protection strategies will be implemented and maintained over time.
■ No single agency, nor government alone, can provide what is needed to preserve all
the important values of the Gaviota Coast. Rather, a well conceived, locally determined
set of efforts, both public and private, is needed using effective voluntary, regulatory
and financial mechanisms.
■ We must integrate equity to Gaviota landowners with ecological health. This can in
part be achieved by building trust and commitment through collaborative, landownerled
watershed alliances, aided by technical assistance, public funding, and streamlined
permitting for good stewardship practices and restoration projects.
■ The County Local Coastal Plan and General Plan, zoning ordinances and agricultural
regulations should comprise the primary governmental authority for the Gaviota area.
These local measures need to be updated as soon as possible to promote the
continuation of viable agriculture; improved watershed and natural resource
management; and appropriate, well-managed public access along the coast.
■ Hostile condemnation will not be used to acquire easements or sites.