Undeveloped Carpinteria Bluffs Gains Grant

The ongoing efforts to buy a portion of the Carpinteria Bluffs and hold it for the public got $144,750 closer to its $7.9 million goal. The Santa Barbara Board of Supervisors approved a grant from the Coastal Resource Enhancement Fund (CREF) to the City of Carpinteria for the bluffs on June 20.

The campaign to pay off the mortgage and fund restoration on 21 acres of bluff-top property is going “exceedingly well,” said Carrie Mullin, development director for the Land Trust of Santa Barbara County, which financed the purchase of Carpinteria Bluffs III last year. The project, which began last year with a two-year horizon, is now on track to be completed early, she said.

More than 1,300 community members have contributed to save Carpinteria Bluffs III, most recently the target of a resort hotel development proposal. Several of the pledges that have been made have yet to be funded in full, said Mullin, and by September the Land Trust will have a better idea of how close they will be to paying off the property and beginning work on habitat restoration and things like trails and a bathroom.