Two ballot measures related to the conversion of 82 acres of public land and open space for a private, space-themed education center are heading for Lompoc’s ballot after residents initiated a measure and the City Council approved its own in May.
“The council may want to withdraw the city measure because you are obligated to put the citizen measure on the ballot,” City Attorney Jeff Malawy told the City Council during its July 2 meeting. “If you leave the city measure on the ballot, you are going to leave two measures on the ballot basically saying the same thing: They are both requesting to discontinue the park use, and that could result in some confusion among the voters having two measures on the ballot.”
Election law requires that citizen-initiated measures must go on the ballot if the proponents collect more than 10 percent of the registered voters’ signatures (1,994 voters in Lompoc), Malawy said. The City Clerk, in coordination with the Santa Barbara County Elections Office, counted 2,017 signatures on the petition.
The city acquired the 82 acres currently up for discussion from the federal government in 1984 and limited use for educational, recreational, and open space purposes, according to the staff report. The city currently operates Ken Adam Park on part of the property, which features group picnic areas, a nature trail, horseshoes, a flag monument, and restroom facilities.
The City Council approved its measure on May 21 that would ask voters to decide if they want Ken Adam Park and public open space be converted to private use, including the possible sale to Pale Blue Dot Ventures for a space-themed educational and recreational development, according to the staff report.
At the same time, the City Council also approved a development agreement with Pale Blue Dot Ventures to develop a space camp and space exploration venue after being in negotiations with the Delaware-based C corporation since 2019. Pale Blue Dot Ventures executives stated that this project would add 50 new jobs, 50 summer jobs, generate $4 million to $6 million in taxes, and bring 300,000 to 335,000 visitors annually, according to previous Sun reporting.
As the city moved forward, proponents circulated their own initiative among the community. Similar to the city’s, the measure asks voters to discontinue public park use in order to allow for other educational, recreational, and/or open space uses—including the potential sale of the site for a space-themed educational center, according to the staff report.
However, the citizen-initiated measure does not include Pale Blue Dot in any of its language, and the city could not add that to the measure moving forward to consolidate the measures, Malawy said.
Malawy said he will have to speak with Pale Blue Dot to see if the company would like to remove the city’s measure from the ballot, and the city will discuss whether to pull the measure at its July 15 or Aug. 6 meeting.
This article appears in Jul 11-21, 2024.