Roosting Birds Delay Hearing on Gaviota Building Project

White-tailed kites are responsible for the cancellation of this week’s hearing at the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission.

Commissioners have been waiting since late March to revisit the potential terms of approval for the controversial Paradiso del Mare project, but an annual bird survey at the proposed project site has been held up thanks to some actively roosting white-tailed kites on the property. The survey, which is a key component of the project’s environmental impact report, cannot be considered completed until the birds move on, something that could take a matter of weeks or months.

All told, Paradiso del Mare looks to build two large-scale luxury houses, complete with outbuildings and guest homes, on the ocean mesa just east of the Naples property on the Gaviota Coast. There has been no new date set for the item to return to the commissioners.