A week from today, the Santa County Board of Supervisors will consider the Santa Barbara County/Chumash Camp 4 agreement at a special meeting. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU ATTEND THIS MEETING.
The meeting will take place on Tuesday, October 31 at 9:00 AM, in the Board Hearing Room, 4th Fl, 105 E. Anapamu St, in Santa Barbara (map). We strongly encourage you to get there early and PLEASE forward this email to your friends and encourage them to attend.
Sadly, since the last public meetings, the County has not meaningfully addressed the residents’ significant concerns about this agreement and its potential impacts on Camp 4 and the Santa Ynez Valley.
According to the County’s responses to citizen concerns, a key theme emerges – as it relates to any limitations on the Tribe’s use of Camp 4, the County is relying on the Environmental Assessment (EA) that was used as the basis for the decision to add Camp 4 to the Chumash Reservation. Doing so provides no assurances to residents that the Chumash will uphold its end of the deal.
This is the same EA the County went to Federal Court to challenge saying that the federal government “failed to conduct the appropriate environmental review under NEPA before approving the acquisition [of Camp 4.]”
Secondly, simply referencing the EA generally in the MOA provides no assurance of compliance by the Tribe. In order to be enforceable, the limits, conditions, and restrictions of the agreement must be legally and specifically included in the agreement – which for the most part, they are not. One wonders why the Tribe did not want to include those limitations directly in the agreement
Below are 4 areas, where we think the agreement is lacking.
- Provides NO guarantees that Camp 4 open space and ag land will be conserved;
- Puts ALL county taxpayers on the hook to pay public safety and other costs to meet the needs of Chumash Camp 4 development;
- Contains no specific prohibition against gaming on Camp 4; and
- Does not expressly prohibit the Tribe exporting of water from Camp 4.
On our website, we have put together a listing of 10 key unresolved issues. Check out that along with the other information we have there.
As always, if you have any questions or need further information, please let send us a note.
Thank you again for your support, and we look forward to seeing you there on October 31st.
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