If the elected Los Olivos Sewer Board members are successful in convincing the residents that they should pay more taxes to pay for a giant sewer pipeline to Solvang, along Alamo Pintado Road, to tear up their driveways and landscaping to connect their homes to the sewer line, and additionally pay more taxes to construct sewage collection systems and pump stations, the growth and sprawl will explode.
On top of that, Los Olivos parcel owners will pay sewer rate fees established by Solvang officials in perpetuity.
It may sound unbelievable that homeowners may have to fund a sewer to accommodate all the sewage generated by the growth of tourism in the Los Olivos Downtown Core.
Downtown needs a sewer solution. A local downtown solution will ultimately be less expensive, more environmentally friendly, and will slow sprawl.
Homeowners who are not contributing to the nitrate contamination of the groundwater, with a functioning septic or on-site advanced treatment system, who will not benefit from a sewer, should explore an “opt-out” of the district, if they can, ASAP.
In the 1970s, the County Board of Supervisors declared nearly 400 Los Olivos parcels part of a “Special Problems Area.” That determination was based on guesstimates about the trajectory of nitrate contamination in the groundwater beneath those parcels.
Fifty-five years later, more scientific groundwater monitoring data show that the vast majority (over two-thirds) of “Special Problems Area” parcels are not contributing to elevated nitrate levels after all.
Ensure you are informed before your vote impacts your property and wallet.
Los Olivos Sewer Information Meeting, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, 6 p.m., The Grange Hall
