Over the past two weeks, I have received a large volume of correspondence from Santa Ynez Valley residents sharing their concerns about a potential fee-to-trust application by the Chumash.
This application would request to annex into their reservation the almost 1,400 acres the tribe has purchased from the estate of Fess Parker, known as Camp 4.
Several hundred people filled the Solvang Veteran’s Hall recently to learn about this issue. I would like to thank the community groups that organized this meeting so the broader community could be informed about fee-to-trust applications and the possible financial and land-use impacts one would have on the Valley and on the county, if approved.
It was unfortunate the date for the meeting was chosen right in the middle of the annual summer recess that the Board of Supervisors calendared last January. I and other supervisors had already made plans months ago to be out of town on that date. However, I made sure my staff representative, Elizabeth Farnum, did attend and she has fully briefed me on what occurred.
I have stated repeatedly over the past several years, including prior to my election, that I oppose fee-to-trust applications by the Chumash tribe. I also did not agree with a previous board’s actions when it did not protest an application by the Chumash to annex 6.9 acres.
I do not think the tribe’s circumstances fit the criteria for which fee-to-trust applications should be approved. I stated my reasons for opposing this request by the Chumash in a letter I wrote to Congressman Gallegly last March, after I confirmed he had been in discussions with the tribe on this issue regarding the Camp 4 property.
In the letter, I stated several main points of opposition — the negative impacts on agriculture, not just on that property but on all the agricultural parcels in the Valley; the negative impact from forever changing the rural and agricultural feel of the Valley; the negative impact from the loss of land-use control by the county in perpetuity; and the negative impact from a total loss of current and future tax revenues that would be generated by the property.
I also told him I had requested that the tribe utilize the county’s land-use process for any possible development application for Camp 4.
Although the tribe has submitted a draft mitigation agreement to the county, the CEO’s office has not entered into any discussions with the tribe about such an agreement. Instead, the CEO would need to ask for such direction by a majority vote of the Board of Supervisors prior to initiating any such discussions. Should this issue be put on the board’s agenda, I would alert the community to it as soon as possible.
I would hope that as many people would turn out to give public comment on this issue to the full Board of Supervisors as attended the town hall meeting. Although I fully understand, appreciate and support the community’s opposition to any annexation of the Camp 4 property, it would be very important for the rest of the supervisors to understand the depth of concern among Valley residents regarding a fee-to-trust application.
I will continue to monitor this issue closely at the federal, state and local level, and will inform the community of what I learn. And, as always, I encourage Valley residents to contact me about this and any other issues of concern to them regarding county government. I can be reached at 568-2192, or at dfarr@countyofsb.org.
  Doreen Farr represents the 3rd District on the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors.