Solvang shelves quail-inspired remodel of Skytt Mesa’s rainwater drainage

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Reports of baby birds trapped in a storm drain prompted Solvang’s city staff to consider a neighborhood-wide retrofit in the Skytt Mesa area—one that would reduce the space between Skytt Mesa’s existing rainwater grate bars to help prevent small critters from falling through the gaps.

After a preliminary study, staff revealed the project’s estimated price tag at the Solvang City Council’s April 28 meeting.

“We’re talking almost half of a million to protect the community of Skytt Mesa’s quail,” City Manager Randy Murphy told the council. “Again, that’s not addressing throughout the city. That’s just the one neighborhood.”

Estimated costs tied to replacing the neighborhood’s current storm grates, conducting a hydraulic study to make sure new grates wouldn’t increase flooding risks in the area, and other expenses total $460,632, according to staff’s feasibility study.

City Council directed staff not to pursue the project further, rather than move forward with the hydraulic study, estimated to cost almost $50,000 on its own.

Murphy told the Sun that Skytt Mesa’s drainage infrastructure was “designed to handle the peak stormwater runoff, so that’s why I was reluctant to make any changes without an engineer doing an assessment.”

One of staff’s alternative routes for the City Council to consider was to skip the hydraulic analysis and move forward with installing new grates and trash screens in Skytt Mesa. But staff warned the council that this approach could lead to abrupt drainage issues and flooding risks, especially during storms.

“It’s unfortunate because I respect every form of life. You have to look and say, what’s the greater good?” Murphy told the Sun. “If quail were endangered, it’d be a different situation.”

Since the summer of 2024, Murphy has been communicating with one Skytt Mesa resident who reached out to the city on behalf of a few neighbors to see if something could be done to prevent baby quail and other small animals from becoming trapped in the storm drains.

“I assured her that we would investigate what we might be able to do before the next [quail] breeding season,” Murphy said.

During the City Council’s April 28 meeting, Mayor David Brown asked staff if there was a way to temporarily alter or partially cover Skytt Mesa’s storm grates during summer months to help ease residents’ concerns, “because we don’t have much rain in the summertime.” 

Murphy said a route like that leaves room for potential flood hazards when there’s unexpected rain, regardless of the season.

Councilmember Louise Smith asked staff if there were any statistics available to illustrate the ways in which most local quail die.

“I’m certainly not trying to be facetious with this but I’m wondering if there’s any type of study of how many quail are killed other ways?” Smith said. “So that we’re not just looking at the storm drains. I mean, do we know by car or by any other means?”

“No, but if we had a few hundred thousand we could do a study,” Murphy responded, eliciting laughs from the dais. “As insensitive as it sounds, staff is recommending that we let nature take its course. But we’ll leave it to council to make that final decision.”

The council ultimately directed staff not to take further action, except to notify the concerned resident who’s been in contact with Murphy of the council’s decision and cost-prohibitive reasoning. 

“There’s a certain sentiment that all life is precious and you need to do whatever you can do to preserve it. There’s also a reason why quail and other birds have so many hatchlings per year. … They’re part of the food chain,” Murphy told the council. “That’s part of the circle of life. So, we have to be cognizant of that.” 

This article appears in May 8-18, 2025.