Following the adoption of a new ordinance, the city of Solvang won’t be able to expand beyond its existing limits for the next 20 years.
At its June 8 meeting, the City Council approved an ordinance establishing this urban growth boundary after two residents led a successful campaign to push the initiative forward. With this boundary in effect, the city could only annex land outside of its limits with voter approval, although there are some exceptions for certain projects.
Solvang residents Susan Bott and Nancy Emerson led this effort through the Save Our Solvang campaign, which began shortly after the city abandoned an annexation study two years ago. Bott and Emerson led an informal signature-gathering effort at the time that showed hundreds of residents didn’t approve of the annexation.
“What Solvang was proposing would have destroyed some of the greenbelt area and would have changed the gateways to Solvang significantly,” Emerson said in a March 2020 interview. “It would have looked like any town, rather than this lovely town in an agricultural setting.”
Despite the city abandoning these plans, Bott and Emerson began looking for a more permanent solution. Earlier this year they began gathering signatures to place an item on the November ballot that would allow residents to vote on the establishment of an urban growth boundary for the city.
During the June 8 council meeting, City Attorney Chip Wullbrandt said Bott and Emerson successfully obtained the number of signatures necessary to place the measure on the November ballot. He said council members had the option to either move forward with the election or simply approve the ordinance Bott and Emerson proposed without putting it to the vote of the public.
The council members voted 4-1 to accept the ordinance, while acknowledging that they believe the community has demonstrated its support for the measure. Councilmember Chris Djernaes cast the lone vote against accepting the ordinance.
“I don’t feel comfortable constraining and constricting future councils,” Djernaes said. “Again, I don’t know enough about it, but I know that I wouldn’t want that on our council.”
This article appears in Jun 18-25, 2020.