No Jurisdiction Change for Museum

There should be ordinances prohibiting nonprofit organizations from changing their land holdings from one jurisdiction to another.

It is wrong for the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History (SBMNH) to change five woodland acres, zoned residential, from county to city jurisdiction.

It is wrong for the SBMNH to have written into its private building plan the proposal to annex Mission Canyon Road, by Rocky Nook Park, a county public road, into the city.

The SBMNH is a nonprofit institution that pays no property taxes and exists in Mission Canyon under a Conditional Use Permit (CUP).

If the SBMNH really wants all its land holdings in one jurisdiction, that jurisdiction should be the county, where the Mission Canyon Community Plan (MCCP), a county document, can be effective without conflict.

City values are formal and urban with straight, cement, raised sidewalks and lots of lights. Mission Canyon values are informal and rural with trails that meander under sycamore and oak trees following the contour of the land and few lights.

LAFCO should deny annexation. It is not a community benefit to Mission Canyon residents or the county.