I am writing you on behalf of the Executive Council of UCSB Graduate Students Association (GSA) regarding the issue of stoplights on Highway 217. We represent approximately 2,200 students attending UCSB. Our students live throughout Santa Barbara County, from Lompoc to Carpinteria, and some commute from Ventura County. We support the call made recently by the campus Academic Senate and the Staff Assembly for the immediate moratorium on Goleta Old Town redevelopment plans impacting Highway 217 in order to assure the UCSB community that our concerns regarding the changes to Highway 217 and the Goleta Revitalization Plan will be adequately considered. We also support the bill passed by UCSB's Associated Students, representing approximately 17,000 undergraduates, calling for the serious and immediate consideration of the proposed alternatives to the stoplights on Highway 217. In an advisory vote held last week, 77% of the 500 graduate students responding indicated that, given a non-stoplight alternative, they do not favor the construction of stoplights on Highway 217, even if changes had to be made to the Old Town Goleta Revitalization Plan.

Despite comments about the timeliness of our concerns, letters against the construction of stoplights on Highway 217/Ward Memorial Drive are part of the public record. Included with this letter is a copy of a letter and resolution on this issue from GSA from over three years ago. It was our understanding that if the plan was to proceed the University would have ample notice and the opportunity to suggest alternatives to the plan, not merely comment on the design, placement, and construction of the stoplights. There appears to have been a misunderstanding leading to a break in communication. The GSA General Council, composed of graduate student representatives from each academic department, had the opportunity to talk to Third District Supervisor Gail Marshall over a year ago (March 1999) at one of our monthly meetings. To our surprise, Gail’s answer to a question about Highway 217 indicated that plans were proceeding and completion of the stoplights was targeted for 2004. There was no discussion of alternatives or input from the University at that time.

We hope that this perspective has changed. Our concerns about stoplights on Highway 217 voiced several years ago remain. There are also new concerns about the level of communication between the University and the County. We call on both the County and the University to work together to develop a plan that is mutually beneficial to each party. We believe that stoplights on a major arterial road (Highway 217) are contrary to increased access to Old Town Goleta and, by contributing to congestion, would stifle several of the revitalization efforts planned for the area.

I look forward to your response and thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,



Grace Credo
Internal President
UCSB Graduate Students Association



cc: Supervisor Joni Gray
Supervisor Gail Marshall
Supervisor Naomi Schwartz
Supervisor Tom Urbanske
Mayor Harriet Miller
Scott Cooper, Chair, Highway 217 Review Committee
Henry Yang, Chancellor
Robert Kuntz, Vice Chancellor, Budget and Planning
David Sheldon, Vice Chancellor, Administrative Services
Philip Demery, Director of Public Works
Matt Dobberteen, Planning and Development
John Patton, Director of Planning and Development
Jonny Wallis, Chair, Goleta Old Town Project Area Committee
Richard Watts, Chair, Academic Senate




January 31, 1997

County of Santa Barbara Planning and Development Department
Comprehensive Planning Division
Attn: Goleta Old Town EIR (96-EIR-05)
123 East Anapamu Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

Dear County of Santa Barbara Planning and Development Department,

The Executive Council of the Graduate Students Association (GSA) at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) would like to enter the enclosed resolution into the public record of the Goleta Old Town Revitalization Environmental Impact Report. The Graduate Students Association at UCSB seeks to represent over 2,000 graduate student voters in the county of Santa Barbara. Any further correspondence about these comments can be directed to Travis Dixon, GSA Internal President, 893-2824.

Thank You,



Keith Maddox
UCSB Graduate Students Association
Resolution on the proposed revitalization of Old Town Goleta
Presented to General Council on February 4, 1997



Whereas,
We are concerned about the potential impacts that this conversion would have on access to the University campus;

Whereas,
The plan fails to address any issues related to campus access;

Whereas,
The proposed revitalization of Old Town Goleta may impact property taxes, which may in turn affect local student rental rates;

Whereas,
The proposed revitalization may, while increasing the amount of services, also significantly increase the costs of those services;

Whereas,
The proposed revitalization may be detrimental to the environment and current climate of Goleta;

Let It Be Resolved That,
The Executive Council of the Graduate Students Association at the University of California, Santa Barbara opposes the proposed conversion of Highway 217 as part of the Old Town Goleta Revitalization Plan;

Let It Be Further Resolved That,
The Executive Council of the Graduate Students Association at the University of California, Santa Barbara has concerns about aspects of the general plan specified in this document.
According to records from UCSB's Office of Budget and Planning for Winter 2000, UCSB graduate students predominantly live in the following areas: Goleta (27%), Santa Barbara (26%), University housing (22%), and Isla Vista (12%).