GOLETA – The Goodland Coalition is working on a new initiative for the November ballot that focuses on fighting farmland development unless voters approve the project.
The Goodland Coalition and the Environmental Defense Center announced their Heritage Farmlands Initiative on Tuesday night at the Goleta City Council meeting.
The farmlands initiative would require voters to have a say on any Goleta development more than 10 acres large that is zoned for farming. There are six properties the coalition has identified, totaling around 350 acres.
"Its goal is to help preserve agricultural land but its effect is really to give more power to the overall voting populous of Goleta," said Nathan Alley, Environmental Defense Center. "So it doesn't say that these properties may not be developed, it simply says that the community has to weigh in if that decision it to be made."
Currently, any proposed development project must go through the planning process and then be approved by the city council. If the initiative passes, it would ad a final step of voter approval.
Members of the Goleta Goodland Coalition will start collecting signatures in the coming weeks. They will need to collect 1,600 valid signatures from Goleta residents.
