July 5, 2000


The Honorable Naomi Schwartz
First District Supervisor
Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors
105 East Anapamu Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101


Dear Supervisor Schwartz:

Thank you for listening to the information on Highway 217 presented by representatives of the UCSB community at the June 20, 2000, Board of Supervisors meeting.

During that meeting, you expressed a view of the UCSB community's earlier position on matters related to 217. We have devoted a substantial amount of effort to reviewing documents related to the UCSB community's position on proposed changes to Highway 217, and we would like to briefly record our current understanding of that position to set the record straight.

As far as we can ascertain, the UCSB position has been consistent from the earliest discussions until the present, and can be summarized by the following three points:

• The UCSB community has supported the broad goals of the Goleta Old Town Revitalization Effort, and has not opposed the use of Highway 217 for access to Goleta Old Town.

• The UCSB community has requested, and continues to request, close participation in the process of designing any changes to Highway 217.

• The UCSB community has opposed, and continues to oppose, methods for access to Goleta Old Town that require the placement of any stoplights on Highway 217.

We are aware that one press account stated that a UCSB representative (Ms. Lee Marking) expressed acceptance of the Goleta Old Town Revitalization program, including the proposed 217 stoplights, at a Board of Supervisors' Meeting on April 6, 1999. Of course, the official UCSB position was summarized in a written letter (enclosed) from Assistant Chancellor Robert Kuntz, delivered to the Board at that meeting by Ms. Marking. Neither that official statement nor the verbal remarks of Ms. Marking at the April 6, 1999, meeting indicate agreement to the placement of stoplights on Highway 217. We have compiled a substantial collection of written documents from 1997 to the present time showing that the University community consistently opposed the placement of stop lights on Highway 217.

Moreover, at all times, including Ms. Marking's statements at the April 6, 1999, Board of Supervisors' meeting, the positive UCSB statements about the Goleta Old Town Revitalization Program were linked to an understanding that UCSB would be active participants in any design activities involving Highway 217. We further understood that the design process would be open to a wide array of alternatives, including those without stoplights. We believed we had assurances to this effect, given by Supervisor Marshall in a meeting with the UCSB community on August 18, 1997, in another meeting with Robert Kuntz on August 21, 1997, and in a letter from Supervisor Marshall to Ms. Marking on April 14, 1999 (enclosed). We have been very disappointed to learn that this was not the case. Our recent activities, then, have been geared to ensuring that the University has a voice in the design of any changes to Highway 217, as we were promised.

Thus, while we are aware that there is a view, particularly among County staff, that the University has reversed its position on this issue, we believe that view is incorrect, and is based on an inaccurate reading of the record. We would very much appreciate receiving from you reference to any documentary evidence that indicates that a UCSB representative ever accepted or endorsed the placement of stoplights on Highway 217.

We also enclose a copy of the documents that our Committee has assembled, which address the chronology of the University's position on proposed changes to Highway 217.

Sincerely,

Professor Harry N. Nelson
UCSB Highway 217 Review Committee
On behalf of the Highway 217 Review Committee

cc: Chancellor Henry T. Yang
Supervisor Susan Rose
Supervisor Gail Marshall
Supervisor Joni Gray
Supervisor Tom Urbanske
Mayor Harriet Miller
John Patton, Director of Planning and Development
Phil Demery, Director of Public Works
Matt Dobberteen, Planning and Development
Jonny Wallis, Chair, Goleta Old Town Project Area Committee
Richard Watts, Chair, Academic Senate
Scott Cooper, Chair, Highway 217 Review Committee
Highway 217 Review Committee Members


Enclosures: April 6, 1999 Letter from Robert Kuntz
April 14, 1999 Letter from Gail Marshall
Highway 217 Chronology