Welcome to Friends of Mission Canyon

May 18, 2010 Board of Supervisors Hearing on Botanic Garden Vital Mission Plan

Proposed Changes to the Planning Commission's Approved Project Description & Conditions Proposed

CUP:

Cap of 200 people, including all visitors and staff, onsite at any given time during High Fire Preparedness Season - May 1 - November 30th. Excepts on-site resident staff and families from caps

Cap of 250 people onsite at any given time during the rest of the year - December 1 - April 30 (need to figure out how to actively monitor this with input from appellants and SBBG)

Elimination of 1.8% annual growth rate

110,000 annual visitor cap

Modification of special events to

i.	17 events of a cap of 80 people in attendance annually
ii.	Cap of 1 event per month during May - November (High Fire Preparedness Season)
iii.	Cap of 2 events per month December - April (Low Fire Preparedness Season)
iv.	Cap of 1,983 individuals per year at special events
v.	All special events must end by sunset with all people vacating the property within 1 hour afterward

Classes cap of 1,778 individuals per year (current level)

Amplification restricted to "spoken word" level, with decibels measured (65 bD limit in General Plan)

Finding: Using the language from the CUP for the Music Academy of the West: Advise future decisionmakers that the operation and site development at SBBG has reached its maximum level for consistency with the neighborhood's public health and safety, and the Board recommends no further increases in use, density or development be allowed.

Buildings:

Two new staff residences on the Hansen Site rejected; existing 2 residences can be remodeled as proposed

Relocate Caretaker's cottage to Director's home location and use as Director's residence

No building permits, land use permits or land use clearances without first demonstrating consistency with new MCC plan

New Buildings would equal 26,576 sq ft, plus demolition = 22,446 when that is done. Could reduce by 1,400 sq ft more if use Caretakers Cottage as Director's residence for a total of 21,046 sq ft of new development.

Construction

Infrastructure must be in place first and tested before any of Phase 1 or Phase 2 of development can begin

Rest period for 1 year or ½ of the time of construction, whichever is longer period, after each phase

Need to look at Construction impacts and phasing more

SBBG must have public meeting (not hearing) on 3 construction management, construction traffic and event parking plans for community input

Fencing:

Remove all chain link fencing, replace with post and wire with minimum set back of 6 feet from roadways

Use only post & wire fencing throughout

New pavers only allowed around new buildings; eliminate 10% increase in pavers as per Planning Commission. Existing pavers (except in meadow) can stay. Meadow pavers shall be removed and decomposed granite used, except natural stone (flagstone) may be used around meadow (HLAC condition)

Fire Protection Plan:

Definition of High Fire Preparedness Season: May 1 - November 30

Garden closure on all Red Flag Alert days

Garden closure on all days where the SBBG monitoring station shows conditions in Mission Canyon comparable to Red Flag criteria conditions

Fire Chief or his designee has discretion outside of Red Flag days to enforce closures if extraordinary unsafe conditions are expected, ie high winds, Sundowners

On site Safety Officer required during Red Flag "watch periods"

Contracts with private parties for events must give fair warning that Garden closure is possible in the above conditions

New signage required near entrance to Mission Canyon Road / Station 15 with Red Flag Warning to deter traffic while on Foothill

New procedure shall be instituted to advise hotel and lodging industry of red flag closures at the Botanic Garden

Roadside clearing mandated

Buses restricted to under 31 feet, with the exception of school buses

Offsite parking when shuttle busses are used must be south of Garden Street

Unannounced fire drill required a minimum of 1x annually (not during special events)

SBBG must have public meeting (not hearing) on Fire Protection Plan for input

n. Shuttle parking will be triggered anytime the parking lots are filled or event over 80 people is planned

Cultural/Archeological:

Shovel test pits required at Hansen Site (SB22)

Native American monitor to be present for any disturbance of soil / all project sites

HLAC given oversight of the Cultural Resources Master Plan within Landmark

Temporary exhibits are limited to 2 years

Santa Barbara Botanic Garden Expansion Project

The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden has continued their campaign to gain approval of the so-called Vital Mission Plan. Narrowly approved on a 3-2 vote by the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission, the Vital Mission Plan's Development Plan and conditional use permit have been appealed by 3 organizations to the Board of Supervisors.

The Botanic Garden's Development Plan involves an excessive amount of new building. While Friends recognizes the need for remodeling and upgrades. The Botanic Garden does not need to add nearly 30,000 square feet of new development. The Garden may easily rebuild the Gane house, destroyed in the Jesusita Fire, and build in most of the needed new facilities. The Garden's proposals to build adjacent to a Chumash village site and destroy portions of the County Landmark are simply inappropriate. The reasonable needs of the Garden into the future may be accommodated with less development.

The CUP approved by the Planning Commission sets the operational limits for the Botanic Garden in perpetuity. It allows annual increases in visitation to a level 50% higher than current levels.

Friends is concerned that the intensity of the development and future activities on the site fail to honor the site's constraints - located in a box canyon with a single, narrow access road. We are concerned with the needless destruction of cultural and historical resources.

Stay posted for updates, and send us an email to receive additional information about the upcoming hearing.