Out of the hundreds of comments submitted to the California Coastal Commission regarding public access to Hollister Ranch, only a handful are positive. As of the Sun‘s press time, more than 600 hundred public comments had been submitted to the commission, all but three of which were intensely critical of the deal that would limit public access to the small stretch of beach in southern Santa Barbara County.
The settlement wouldn’t have been made public if it weren’t for a judge intervening at the 11th hour once the deal had already been struck, providing for a period of public comment. According to the Coastal Commission, an overwhelming amount of the comments say the settlement failed to secure enough land for public access.
On July 13, in Santa Cruz, the Commission will hold an informational briefing as part of its three days of regularly scheduled meetings. It is the first item on the agenda following general public comment.
The Hollister Ranch deal was reached earlier this year between the California State Coastal Conservancy and the state’s Coastal Commission on one side and the Hollister Ranch Owners Association on the other. It allows for limited public access to what environmentalists say is one of the least tarnished stretches of coastline in the state.
The deal provides public access to about a mile section of beach, but only by ocean “via surfboard, paddleboard, kayak, or soft-bottom boat.” The beach is only a couple miles from Gaviota State Park beach.
Details surrounding the settlement only came to light earlier this year when Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Colleen Sterne approved the settlement with one caveat: the public should have at least a theoretical way to stop the deal.
“Because the settlement abandons disputed rights of public access, the court raised the issue of whether, and to what extent, notice must, or should, be provided to the affected public,” Sterne said in her tentative ruling. “The court is concerned that the procedural posture of this case has limited knowledge of this action by the public, and more specifically knowledge of the settlement terms, so that affected members of the public would not have sufficient knowledge of the existence of this action and settlement to exercise rights to request intervention should any affected member of the public want to do so.”
Judge Sterne said the court could then address any motion filed in court disputing the deal.
Members of the public who wish to submit objection with the court must file a motion to intervene by July 23 of this year. The court’s final hearing on whether to provide final approval for the settlement agreement is scheduled for Sept. 10.
The ranch owners association sued the state in 2013, alleging that an easement on the property originally given to the Boy Scouts of America around three decades ago was legally unenforceable. The largely wealthy owners (filmmaker James Cameron has a home there) on the 14,000-acre property always chafed at the easement and had planned legal action to remove any pathway to public access.
The agreement allowing limited access was reached late last year.
This article appears in Jun 28 – Jul 5, 2018.