Our voices, and the voices of the trees in and near the Modoc Preserve, will be heard…
We will not be silenced and flippantly dismissed…
The trampling on the Conservation Easement Agreement for the Modoc Preserve by the County of Santa Barbara Public Works and Board of Supervisors MUST be stopped!!!
It is not “just words written on a piece of paper 30 years ago”…spoken by Gregg Hart…2nd District Supervisor…now, 37th Assembly District Representative.
Words on Paper By Ted Rhodes, Carpinteria Sat Nov 12, 2022 | 3:47pm
“Wow, Supervisor Hart. Do you really believe that legal conservation easements such as the one the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County holds on the Modoc Preserve and on numerous other special, beloved open space lands all around our county such as the Carpinteria Bluffs Nature Preserve, the Rincon Bluffs Preserve, and the Sedgwick Reserve are “just words written on a piece of paper 30 years ago?” [Santa Barbara Independent, Nov. 10, 2022.] Are you saying that this critical tool that we have used for years to protect special ranch lands and open spaces around the county by carefully delineating the permitted and prohibited uses for each property tied to specific conservation values have no legal standing in your eyes nor in those of your fellow county supervisors? Alas (and possibly regrettably), I voted for and supported you in your recent successful bid to represent us in the State Assembly, where I had assumed you would not only enact new, relevant legislation but also serve to uphold and respect our existing state laws and statutes, defending along the way, when called upon, the principles of our California State and United States Constitutions. Am I now to assume that you will treat all of these legal documents, many of them written well over 30 years ago, as merely “just words written on a piece of paper”? Tell me it ain’t so!”
VERIFIED PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDATE AND COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF
(Public Resources Code §§ 21168; 21168.5; and Cal. Code of Civ. Proc. §§ 1094.5; 1085)
COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION FOR THE MODOC PRESERVE, Petitioner and Plaintiff,
vs.
COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA; COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA BOARD OF SUPERVISORS; and DOES 1 through 20, inclusive, Respondents and Defendants,
_____________________________________
ROES 1 through 20, inclusive, Real Parties in Interest.
Our goal is to keep this ecologically valuable open space from encroaching urban development. Please contribute to our legal fund to help save these 100+ year old iconic, and historic, heritage trees before it’s too late. Everything helps!
*PLEASE NOTE FUNDS DONATED TO THE LINK BELOW GO DIRECTLY INTO THE LEGAL DEFENSE FUND TO HELP PROTECT THE MODOC TREES AND THE PRESERVE LAND. ANY LEFTOVER FUNDS WILL BE DONATED TO THE LAND TRUST FOR SANTA BARBARA COUNTY IN NAME OF THE MODOC PRESERVE.*
You can also donate by check in name of MODOC PRESERVE LEGAL DEFENSE FUND…please EMAIL us for mailing details…
