BMX Move Angers Residents

Elings Park management plans to expand its BMX track-currently near the park’s Las Positas entrance-and relocate it to the park’s Cliff Drive side to make room for more soccer fields has raised the ire of some area residents. They maintain that development of the proposed 55,000-square-foot area in the southern section of the park goes against an agreement made when the Santa Barbara County Coastal Resource Enhancement Fund (CREF) put up $500,000 to purchase the land in 1998. In exchange for the money, the park agreed to a deed restriction limiting certain areas of the park-including the south end-to “passive” uses such as walking, horseback riding, or bird watching. “It can’t be developed for active uses without the written permission of the County Board of Supervisors,” said Doug Anthony, CREF’s deputy director, adding that although the park has been annexed into the jurisdiction of the City of Santa Barbara, due to the deed restriction, any permit the city might grant would end up being governed by the county supervisors’ final word.