Coastal Commission Eyes Hope Ranch Cabanas

A bluffside cabana over Hope Ranch’s beach caught the attention of the California Coastal Commission last week, whose own commissioner, Santa Barbara resident Jana Zimmer, is appealing the County of Santa Barbara’s after-the-fact approval of work that was done to the building’s deck years ago. The Rich Cabana, which is owned by Lee and Julia Carr, who purchased it after the repairs were completed, was deemed a historic landmark in 2012, yet Zimmer’s appeal asserts that protected status shouldn’t trump the protection of coastal resources. It’s unclear what alternatives to approving the completed work exist — short of tearing it down — but the commission will be giving a top-down analysis of the property in the weeks to come. The final policy decisions may also apply to the Bryce Cabana up the coast, the other beach shack with historic landmark status that owners Geoff and Alison Wrigley Rusack are hoping to preserve along with the attached funicular.