I am forwarding to the County of Santa Barbara Board of Supervisors a copy of a letter from Professor Richard Watts, Chair of the Santa Barbara Division of the Academic Senate. As you may know, the Academic Senate comprises all of the faculty members at UCSB. Professor Watts’ letter states that over 90% of the faculty who voted support the resolution calling for a moratorium on County planning and implementation of the presently proposed changes to Highway 217 (Ward Memorial Highway).

I recently forwarded a copy of Professor Watts’ letter to our Highway 217 Review Committee, which is composed of faculty, staff, and student representatives. Based on e-mail and phone messages received from many UCSB faculty, staff, and students, as well as the faculty vote, the Highway 217 Review Committee believes that the attached letter expresses the views of the vast majority of the UCSB campus and joins the Senate in calling for a moratorium on County planning and implementation of the presently proposed changes to Highway 217. Such a moratorium is needed to allow the University sufficient time to complete its analyses and to continue to work with County staff and consultants on solutions to Highway 217’s design that meet the goals of both UCSB and the Goleta Old Town Revitalization Plan.

In an open letter to me, dated February 29, 2000, Supervisor Marshall stated that she had “instructed County staff and consultants to work with University faculty, staff, and consultants to develop highway designs that serve southern areas of Goleta Old Town and meet the needs of UCSB and the community for safe and efficient travel on Highway 217”. In that same letter, Supervisor Marshall also states that “the final design for Highway 217 will incorporate the conclusions from the University’s traffic consultant,” that “final decisions will not be made without appropriate input and consultation with the University community,” that she is “committed to finding a solution that accommodates all stakeholders, including UCSB,” and that County and University personnel will work together “to develop a Highway 217 design that is acceptable to the University.

The University looks forward to continuing its work with the County on the Highway 217 issues and requests the Board of Supervisors to suspend the current Highway 217 planning and implementation to allow sufficient time for these issues to be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction.

University employees and students residing in each of the supervisorial districts will be contacting their respective Supervisors to discuss these issues in more detail.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

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