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Haskell's Beach	Haskell's Devastation
Haskell's Beach / The Broken Thread    For as long as anyone can remember, Haskell's Beach has been seen as a place where one could get away from it all: away from traffic, away from cars, away from civilization. It was a place where a lone hiker or independent surfer could find solitude, a sense of spirituality and peace.    Haskell's Beach natural beauty and resources have been prized for centuries. In modern times, Haskell's Beach has played host to those seeking solitude, recreation and a nature experience. Over the years, the site has been used for a variety of purposes, including: a prominent Native American Chumash Village, kelp processing, crude oil storage, oil extraction, and agriculture. Nature has created a natural amphitheater at Haskell's Beach. Bisected by Tecolote Creek, Haskell's Beach, is defined by its gently sloping Central Valley, which extends from the top of the property to the sea. Two marine terraces rising nearly 100 feet flank the valley. Steep cliffs up to 95 feet with slopes up to 100% define much of the southern boundary line. The site included a number of outstanding natural features including a brackish marsh, and a low-coastal dune system. Several local, state and federally listed, protected or endangered species have been observed on site, and in areas within the vicinity of the site.     Despite our best efforts, Haskell's Beach, as we know it, is gone. It is doubtful that Haskell's Beach could be restored to its former beauty were it possible to try. A tragedy of great magnitude has occurred at Haskell's Beach. Past Efforts    Serious efforts were made to purchase Haskell's Beach for public recreation in the 1970's. In 1976 the California Coastal Commission recommended that Haskell's Beach be purchased for public recreation. Between 1977 and 1979 the State Legislature appropriated $2.3 million dollars to be used by the California Department of Parks and Recreation to acquire a portion of the site for recreational purposes. The proposed purchase was abandoned in 1980 due to the owner's unwillingness to sell at the appraised value.    The Gaviota Coast represents the last significant stretch of relatively undeveloped, unprotected coastal land of this magnitude remaining in Southern California. Haskell's Beach forms one of the most beautiful segments of that coast.    In the mauling of Haskell's Beach are we perhaps witnessing the beginning of the end for Santa Barbara County's beautiful undeveloped landscapes. With the development of Haskell's Beach we all stand to lose a little piece of our own souls to a crass commercial world that places money, as it's highest ambition. What You Can Do! Write a letter  Write a letter to the Board of Supervisors and let them know that you do not support the development of Naples. Phone Phone the Supervisors. Addresses/Phone numbers/email below: 1st District Naomi Schwartz, Chair Phone: 568-2186 Fax: 568-2534 e-mail: nschwar@co.santa-barbara.ca.us Web: www.naomischwartz.com 2nd District 2nd District Susan Rose, Vice-Chair Phone: 568-2191 Fax: 568-2283 e-mail: srose@co.santa-barbara.ca.us 3rd District Gail Marshall Phone: 568-2192 Fax: 568-2883 Solvang office: 686-5095 Fax: 686-8133 e-mail: gmarsh@co.santa-barbara.ca.us 4th District Joni Gray Lompoc: 737-7700 Santa Maria: 346-8407 Fax: 737-7703 e-mail: jgray@co.santa-barbara.ca.us	Trouble in Paradise/ A dream is Threatened A Naples Alert!   The Naples Connection Updated!   On September 3, 2004 the County determined that the Naples Application Resubmittal was complete and began processing the application for the development of 54 oversized luxury homes, multi-car garages, guest houses, and barns. The Scoping hearing for Naples will probably be held in January. The County has sent out a request for proposals for interested Environmental Impact Report Consultants (EIR). The County has requested that proposals be submitted by November 15, 2004. County Staff will review the proposals and select a consultant. The Consultant, and contract will then be submitted to the Board of Supervisors.   Policy 2-13: (Santa Barbara County Local Coastal Plan), "The existing town site of Naples is within a designated rural area and is remote from urban services. The County shall discourage residential development of existing lots. The County shall encourage and assist the property owner(s) in transferring development rights from Naples town site to an appropriate site within a designated urban area, which is suitable for residential development. ..."  As far as I can tell, the County has made no real effort to transfer development rights. To my knowledge, there is no realistic TDR program in Santa Barbara County. The intention of the LCP is to discourage development at Naples. The County, meanwhile, is paving the way for development at Naples.  Policy 2-10: "Annexation of a rural area(s) to a sanitary district or extensions of sewer lines into rural area(s) as defined on the land use plan maps shall not be permitted..."   Policy 8-2: "If a parcel is designated for agricultural use and is located in a rural area not contiguous with the urban/rural boundary, conversion to non-agricultural use shall not be permitted..." For more information please see "Naples/Scam of the Century"   Click here for Naples/Scam of the Century

HISTORY

 Haskell's Beach is located on the south side of U.S. Highway 101 and the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks, approximately 1-mile west of Winchester Canyon Road. The site is bounded on the east by Bell Creek. The western boundary is defined by a row of trees bordering an adjacent rural parcel. Nature has created a natural amphitheater at Haskell's Beach. Bisected by Tecolote Creek, the 73 acre site is largely defined by it's gently sloping central valley which extends from the top of the property to the sea. Two marine terraces rising nearly 100 feet flank the valley. Steep cliffs up to 95 feet with slopes up to 100% define much of the southern boundary line.

Haskell's Beach also features a brackish marsh, a low-coastal dune system, and a Monarch butterfly roost, which has recently been destroyed by developers. Several local, state and federally listed, protected or endangered species have been observed on site, and in areas within the vicinity of the site. These include the Monarch Butterfly, the Southwestern Pond Turtle, the California Red-Legged Frog, the Coast Horned Lizard, the Tidewater Goby, the Green backed Heron, the Western Snowy Plover, and the white-tailed Kite.

The site has been used for a variety of purposes, including a prominent Native American Chumash village, kelp processing, crude oil storage, oil extraction, agriculture and recreation.

In 1969 Wallover Corporation purchased the site as part of a 1143 acre holding in Tecolote Canyon. In 1975 a proposal to build 153 clustered town houses on the site was denied by the County of Santa Barbara based on inconsistencies with the County's proposed Local Coastal Plan (LCP). In 1976, the California Coastal Commission recommended that Haskell's Beach be purchased for public recreation, and zoned 1-A. Between 1977 and 1979 the State legislature appropriated $2.3 million dollars to be used by the California Department of Parks and Recreation to acquire a portion of the site for recreational purposes. The proposed purchase was abandoned in 1980 due to the owner's unwillingness to sell at the appraised value.

In 1983, Wallover Inc. and the Hyatt Corporation jointly filed an application with the County for a preliminary Development Plan and a rezone seeking approval of a 524 room destination resort. Despite the fact that the County Planning Commission denied the project in October of 1984, the request was heard on appeal and approved by the County Board of Supervisors in May of 1985. In July of 1985, the County resubmitted the Local Coastal Plan to the California Coastal Commission for certification. In its resubmittal, the County proposed redesignating Haskell's beach 'Visitor Serving Commercial' and inclusion of the site into the Goleta urban planning area.

For as long as anyone can remember, Haskell's Beach has been seen as a place where one could get away from it all, away from cars, away from traffic, away from civilization. It was a place where a lone hiker or independent surfer could find solitude, a sense of spirituality and peace. Now that is threatened by a 400 dollar a night luxury resort that has been described in County documents as "marginally economically feasible". (See Hyatt Resort and Hotel 86-DP-46 Final Development Plan/Findings and Statement of Overriding Considerations pg. 35.)

Art Florez, general manager of Pacifica Suites in Goleta, commenting on SBCR&Spa's high priced rooms/ slated to rent for $300 to $400 dollars a night, stated, "'That's going to be almost impossible' to rent the rooms. The resort will have little, if any impact on rivals." Newspress/ December 12, 1997.

Isolated, flanked by two oil facilities, one of which creates odors akin to rotten eggs, fronted by cold water, and plagued by globs of tar resulting from oil seepage, it is a wonder that anyone would want to build a resort on this site. While cold water and tar does little to deter surfers, will visitors to Santa Barbara really be interested in paying hundreds of dollars a night to sleep near an oil pier whose concrete pylons stand in 55 degree water?

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