The five pillars of a community victory

It started, as it often does, with a simple feeling: “I don’t like this.” The “this” was a proposal decades ago for a massive housing development on the Ellwood Bluffs in Goleta, a place of unique beauty and ecological importance. That initial, gut-level reaction pulled me from the sidelines and into the unfamiliar world of community planning. What began as a personal concern quickly expanded as I talked with neighbors and realized, “We don’t like this.”I didn’t know it then, but we were embarking on an epic journey that mirrored the similar battle already underway to permanently protect the treasured Carpinteria Bluffs.With guidance from experienced community members and county staff, my neighbors and I embarked on a crash course in civic engagement. We learned about the foundational documents that are supposed to guide development — the General Plan, the Local Coastal Plan and the zoning code. These were the rules of the game.

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