It’s a beautiful morning. On the Carpinteria Bluffs just south of Highway 101, you can hear the sound of the surf and smell the sea air. You can the Channel Islands, and look up and down the Santa Barbara and Ventura County coastlines for miles.
Now, a new deal is preserving close to 2.5 acres on the the east side of the bluffs forever.
"This is some of the last coastal blufftop land left undeveloped in Southern California. There's not many places left in California where you can enjoy the original state of the bluffs as they were. Now, this is protected forever," said Meredith Hendricks, the Executive Director of the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County. The trust put together the deal.
Efforts to save the bluffs go back decades. There have been numerous proposals to build resorts, and hotels in the area, because of the spectacular views.
In the 1990’s some residents formed a nonprofit called the Citizens for the Carpinteria Bluffs, raising money to preserve a huge chunk of the land. In 1998, working with the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County, they made the first purchase.
"Back then, we bought 51 acres that was slated for development, from the Shay-Vickers Company, that had originally been a part of Chevron Land and Development. We turned it into a nature preserve, with maybe a fifth of it being playing fields. Back then, it was $3.9 million, and then we had to raise an endowment so it was really more like $4.5 million," said Ted Rhodes, who is a long time board member with the nonprofit.
He said over the years, the community continued its efforts to save more of the bluffs. "Back in 2009, we added almost two acres that was right across from the bluffs, to protect the view corridor. In 2020, it was the culmination of another effort to save the Rincon Bluffs, which is this 20 or so acres just to the west of us here," said Rhodes.
This latest deal to preserve a chunk of land on the eastern end of the Carpinteria Bluffs came together in weeks. The La Centra-Sumerlin Foundation stepped up to fund the nearly $3.9 million purchase. But, there was lots of legwork involving a property which had been the focus of development proposal for years.
"Well, I might have called them every six months for the last few years, checking in regularly. But, I think what happens in Santa Barbara County is people hope to be able to develop places, and sometimes that works, and sometimes it doesn't," said Hendricks. "We create relationships with everyone, and when they're ready to make a change, they'll think of us. John King was the landowner, and the willing seller, and he was just a pleasure to work with."
"This view...you can see all the way to Goleta, all the islands, and you can see all the way to Oxnard," said Christie Boyd, who is a longtime Citizens for the Carpinteria Bluffs board member. "It's spectacular, and in may ways this is the crown of the bluffs."
Is there a next? "There's always a next," said Hendricks.
