Goleta-born pop diva Katy Perry is proposing to build an overnight summer camp for youth on a 110-acre sprawl of ag land on Winchester Canyon Road she bought from Bragg Live Foods CEO Patricia Bragg, and already 380 of the surrounding neighbors have signed a petition calling on the county government to shut the project down before it even gets started.
At issue is noise, traffic, fire evacuation, and disturbance of the ambient peace and quiet the neighbors thought they were purchasing. Bragg, now deceased, gave Perry her first guitar, thus radically changing Perry’s life trajectory. Perry has envisioned a camp — dubbed Gratitude Canyon — that caters to the needs of underserved tweens, some of whom she currently helps enroll in similar camps in Los Angeles environs.
In an October 22 letter to county planners, one neighbor suggested what Perry and her sister are proposing qualifies as too much of a good thing. The writer worried that traffic using the two roads going into and out of Winchester Canyon Drive are narrow enough already given existing traffic loads, but with the two camp buses and 12 passenger vans proposed — not to mention the unspecified special events during off months capable of drawing crowds of 400 — evacuation during wildfire events would prove seriously problematic. Because Perry’s plans call for the creation of an amphitheater, a recording studio, a pool, tennis and pickleball courts, a gym, a zipline, cabins, and a dining hall, neighbors worry their peace and quiet will be disturbed, not to mention that of any natural wildlife.
The proposal was deemed complete for purposes of planning review only late this September and has had one preliminary hearing before the Architectural Board of Review. Given the zoning of the land, Perry’s project will require a zoning change, a general plan amendment, and all but certainly the preparation of environmental impact report.
Unlike housing proposals — subject to almost mandatory approval given state laws — this project is entirely up to the discretion of both the county’s Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors. In other words, Perry and her project and the neighbors have a very long time to get to know each other.
