Thursday, May 22, 2008
Aren't those Steve Pappas ads impressive! He has a solution for every problem facing the community. But don't you think his face is a little red on TV?
I think it's great that he wrote a letter to the state about contamination from the old Santa Ynez Airport landfill. Of course, maybe it would have been more effective if he and his organization, Preservation of Los Olivos (POLO), had let the county go ahead and dig up the landfill and do a “clean closure” when they were poised to do so. But maybe he's confused by his own TV ad. It shows Lake Cachuma, which is uphill and upstream from the landfill. But give the guy credit, he wrote a letter after all.
And to think that all it takes, is a trip to Washington to stop expansion of Casino gaming! I hope the Chumash don't find out about that neat little trick.
I'm sure glad he stopped that “farmland” from becoming “high density housing” across the street from him. Of course it was residentially zoned land, had been for decades, and there never was an actual “high density housing” project proposed for the property. A few planners working on the housing element update forgot to ask anybody else when they floated that idea. No elected official supported it. The local citizen advisory group (General Plan Advisory Committee) working on the Community Plan didn't support it and since Los Olivos is a Special Problems District it never could have happened.
Maybe Pappas is thinking of the Ecological Village conceptual project that was proposed during the GPAC Community Plan meetings? But that wasn't a high-density project, it only had thirty units on almost 28 acres, and it included a public park, a public trail, an organic farm, and protection for the creek. Of course it did include six affordable units and some people don't like them next door.
But Pappas website says the property “was in the final stages of being converted into a high-density condominium project” and his Independent profile described it as “100 - 150 condos.”
Ecological Village was a concept. It would have required a real project, environmental review, approval of a rezone, and a Development Plan. But you have to give Pappas credit, when POLO stopped the Santa Ynez Valley Community Plan, he stopped that concept dead in its tracks, along with years of work and scores of community meetings on the entire valley's future.
His POLO buddy Doug Herthel, whose house overlooks the property and whose clinic is across the street, bought the property in order to keep it from being developed and it looks mighty pretty as a “farm” right now. Too bad he hasn't put a Conservation Easement on it as promised, in order to keep it that way. By unearthing more lots and adjusting the lot lines it gives the impression he might just sell it some day. Like the parcel west of Mattei's Tavern, which he also bought to “save” from development. He just sold that one to the same undisclosed buyers (some folks like to use a friendly corporate handle) who bought Mattei's from Firestone. Firestone says they have “no plans whatsoever” and I'm sure that's true for all the parcels Herthel owns.
You do have to give Pappas, Herthel, and POLO credit for buying the corner park in Los Olivos and keeping it green for “future generations.” But it makes you wonder why they wanted to keep the zoning commercial instead of letting it be rezoned for recreation. And it's a darn shame that all the recreational amenities and trails envisioned in the entire Santa Ynez Valley Community Plan got chucked so Pappas and POLO could save the corner park.
Yes, Pappas would be impressive if you could believe his public relations campaign. He has a solution for every problem. You either spin it, stop it, promise it, buy it, write a letter, or take a trip.
If I were spinning the truth that fast and making piecrust promises that thin I would be red in the face too.