Please see this message from our partners at EDC which represents SBCAN on this issue. Also, read the opinion article SBCAN's Advocacy and Events Director, Nadia Abushanab, wrote about the issue here.
HELP PROTECT PRIME FARMLAND IN LOMPOC
The City of Lompoc is attempting to expand its Sphere of Influence (SOI) to include 148.3 acres of prime farmland adjacent to Bailey Avenue, a first step in paving the way for future development. In the past, EDC on behalf of Santa Barbara County Action Network (SBCAN) along with agricultural partners, successfully opposed development along Bailey Avenue that would have transformed a 270-acre piece of prime agricultural land into an urbanized development consisting of nearly 2,700 homes. Today, prime farmland along Bailey Avenue is again under threat as a result of the City’s Application to expand its urban Sphere of Influence. EDC and SBCAN need your help today to protect this prime farmland in Lompoc.
With your help, in early December EDC was able to convince the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) to provide the public adequate time to review nearly 2,000 pages of information sent with its public meeting notice and to participate in the process. LAFCO will now meet on February 2, 2023 at 1 PM, via Zoom and in Santa Maria, and we need your voice. Please join us in urging LAFCO to deny the City’s proposal and prevent the conversion of 148.3 acres of important agricultural land in Lompoc.
You can use the following talking points in your comments:
- Approval of this project would threaten unique and important prime farmland and undermine local agricultural production.
- There is sufficient, vacant undeveloped land within the City’s current boundaries to accommodate the City’s housing needs.
- The City must analyze potential impacts of future development on the 148.3 acres that could ultimately be converted due to this proposal.
In addition, please raise any personal concerns or opinions that you have about why this issue is important to you.
If you are not able to attend the hearing on February 2 by Zoom or in Santa Maria (Board of Supervisors Hearing Room- 511 East Lakeside Park way, Suite 141), please email your comment before 5 p.m. on January 31 to the Commission Analyst/Clerk at: [email protected] and [email protected].
Here is the agenda for LAFCO's meeting on February 2nd, and here is the zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/93036954995?pwd=d1Q2M2xwdFR0ZnJYaXFOL0ttSll0Zz09
Webinar ID: 930 3695 4995 Passcode: 0202
Thank you for once again lending your voice on this important issue.