It’s been 9 months since Santa Barbara County took the first step in trying to sneak the release of a shoddily crafted environmental document through the CEQA process. Holding their breath for 30 days of a public comment period without properly notifying the taxpaying citizens that live adjacent to the Modoc Preserve…and, the nature loving community at large…
Yes, it is indeed a protected nature preserve under management by Land Trust of Santa Barbara County…one of 54 properties they manage…and, not just an “open space”…and, certainly not a city or county park…that was settled law back in 1999 with a Deed of Conservation Easement…protecting it from development “forever” and “in perpetuity”…
Instead of respecting this legal document and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), Santa Barbara County Public Works and the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors approved an inaccurate and incomplete MND (Mitigated Negative Declaration) and greenlighted a proposed plan to pave asphalt through this nature preserve for a 14′ bike superhighway…forcing our neighborhoods to organize and fight back against this development to keep the Modoc Preserve a nature preserve…
To that end…fight we did…and, are doing…CAMP (Community Association for the Modoc Preserve) gathered signatures on a PETITION (5760 signatures) and started a MODOC PRESERVE LEGAL FUND to save the iconic and historic heritage trees and wildlife that live in this greenbelt…and, filed a lawsuit challenging this wrongful decision…and, seeking environmental justice for the Modoc Preserve…the rule of law…and, 53 other protected properties (to date, the Land Trust has protected over 34,000 acres of land and counting) that could also be affected by forces seeking to undermine their protection…etc…
We have a trial date of December 13, 2023 in front of the Honorable Judge Thomas Anderle and are confident that we will prevail…
In the interim, we have been involved in the mandatory settlement conference process and SB County Public Works continues to be obstinate in holding on to their plan of paving asphalt in the Preserve for a 14′ wide MUP AND also holding on to the existing Class II bike lanes that they said would be removed when the Class I MUP is built.
There are at least 24 potential points of contact between vehicles and bikes in this westbound lane on the north side of Modoc Road ending with a cyclist having to cross two lanes of vehicle traffic to make a left turn onto the Obern Trail…WHICH IS THE REASON THEY WROTE THE $5.35MM GRANT IN THE FIRST PLACE!!! BTW, this has turned into a $10MM project…over $2000/ft…
Members of the bike lobby have their hair on fire about building the MUP in the Preserve to increase bike safety…but, they and the County want to keep the existing Class II bike lanes…all the while the root cause of all of the bike/vehicle collisions on this segment of Modoc Road is the westbound Class II bike lane on the north side of Modoc Road!
There have been two recent bike accidents on Modoc Road…11/9/22 and 2/9/23…both of which appear to be cyclist at fault…
The main intent of the ATP grant was to REPLACE the westbound Class II bike lane on the north side of Modoc Road and upgrade it with a Class I MUP separated from traffic on the south side of Modoc Road.
If they replace this bike lane, they will have room for the MUP on the south side of Modoc Road without cutting the trees.
