Memorial Benches Removed for ‘Cultural Considerations’

Two memorial benches perched perfectly above the sand at Hammonds Beach earlier this winter by Santa Barbara County Park employees have been removed. Sited along the edge of the permanently protected and public grassy knoll known as Hammonds Meadow, the benches have been removed due to “cultural considerations” according to staffers and will be reinstalled at other county parks. The meadow, known to the Chumash as Shalawa, was spared from development decades ago in part because of its cultural significance to the Chumash people. Similarly, the meadow is the only sacred Chumash spot in the coastal zone that is on the National Register of Historic Places.