Julia LarawayBy Julia Laraway
To Those Who Would BUY an “Estate” at the San Marcos Foothills West Property:
In the spirit of full disclosure about the environment surrounding your new home, this letter will address three issues: the wildlife that lives on the property, the weather and the threat of wildfire.
The animals found in the foothills range from harmless prey to apex predator. Smaller, less visible creatures are gophers and ground squirrels. In any given square yard, there are between one and two gopher or ground squirrel burrows. They are darling little animals, and absolutely willing to eat every last one of your plants, be they vegetable or ornamental. Other less visible, and less darling, animals are the tarantula and the rattlesnake. Tarantulas are big, hairy spiders and while they look ferocious are not venomous. Rattlesnakes on the other hand are venomous and do pose a danger to you and your pets. Among the larger animals, there are bobcats, mountain lions and coyotes. All three of these predators have been sighted regularly on the property and all enjoy a tasty snack of gopher and ground squirrel. They would also make a meal of your cat, small to midsize dog or puppy, chickens or baby goats. There are also all manner of birds that will serenade you at all hours of the day and night. This is lovely if you like that sort of thing, but it just might keep you awake all night if you are used to the sounds of the city. Coyotes tend to howl as well, so be aware of that.
Regarding the weather that you will be experiencing after you settle into your new estate, it will not be the temperate climate for which the City of Santa Barbara is so famous. As advertised, your home sits on the largest debris flow recorded in the Santa Barbara area. The lots on the upper mesa are at elevations 400 to 700 feet above sea level and are roughly 3.5 miles from the coast. Our temperature tracking weather station is at the Santa Barbara Municipal Airport which is at sea level and roughly a quarter mile from the Pacific Ocean. The temperature reading at the Airport is generally 10 degrees F cooler than it is on the upper mesa at the San Marcos Foothills. You and your lovely home will be subjected to temperatures that reach into the low 90’s in August, and commonly into the high 90s and low 100s in the months of September and October. Additionally, April and May have those types of temperatures occasionally before the June Gloom sets in. The upper mesa is also in the direct path of our local sundowner winds that roar down the San Marcos Pass and the front country of the Santa Ynez Mountains, sucking all the moisture from the surrounding vegetation.
Which brings us to FIRE danger. The upper mesa of the San Marcos Foothills burned in the Cave Fire on November 25, 2019. People who live in homes above Foothill Road have evacuated for fires in 2014, 2013, 2011 and 2009. You are buying a home in the path of barreling winds that suck moisture from the air and vegetation and raise the air temperature precipitously in a short amount of time. One spark can spell destruction, and it regularly has here in Santa Barbara.
If you find that the view is worth it, may you enjoy rattlesnake sightings and the sweltering fall days, and remember to have a go-bag ready and waiting in your car at all times for as long as you live in your “estate.”
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Simpleton- Interesting comparison to The Boulders. The two developments have some things in common. Both have detrimental impacts on the environment, mainly native grasslands. The Boulders got away with faux mitigation of the damage by “transplanting “ some to the Modoc Preserve. At least the SMF preserved some on site. Both have or had beautiful boulders scattered throughout the landscape. Both will increase fire danger by adding more people and flammable ornamental landscape, into fire prone areas without adequate ingress or egress. Both have impacts from the addition of thousands of square feet of non pervious surfaces. The run off at The Boulders is voluminous, even with the mitigation of a one acre retention basin,. One day of moderate rain fills the basin, which overwhelms the outflow and causes muddy water in the streets south of the project. The run off from development contains everything from oil, fertilizers, dirt and other toxins found in urban areas. Both have/will remove vital forage land for local wildlife. Both have/had archaeological artifacts that deserved proper preservation. This is where the similarities end. Unlike the SMF, The Boulders was THE last open space on the West Mesa area. Unlike the SMF, The Boulders are on small parcels with merely 40 feet between homes. I am not sure why you think homes at The Boulders have sold quickly. I assume you have a stake in them or you wouldn’t have brought the development up. FYI The three completed homes sat vacant on the market for three years, only recently have two sold. Construction of two others are almost complete with one of them sold. The developer assumed the homes would sell for between 3-4 million. Even with the price reduced to 2.5 M, they sat on the market for years. The Boulders project broke ground in 2015. The surrounding area has been impacted by the construction of this project for nearly 6 years, and it isn’t even 1/4 of the way finished. How long will the construction at SMF take? We do not need more overpriced multimillion dollar homes in the wild land urban interface. More homes which will ruin the environment, increase fire risk, and sit on the market for years. What a waste.
This Op-Ed described about 1/3 of SB with these ‘dangers’. I’d move up there in a heartbeat.
Well written! And why it is so not okay to think we can keep developing, expanding, encroaching into what open spaces still remain. Fire and debris flow risk – good luck w insurance
Good try, but people with the means to buy a place in this development didn’t get it by minimizing their footprint on the earth’s surface. Need another 4M or this place is gone.