It’s time for Orcutt to incorporate
The citizens of Orcutt are fed up with the actions of the city of Santa Maria as they attempt to annex the Richard’s Ranch property into the city.
It is located next to State Route 135 and Union Valley Parkway. The parkway already has significant traffic that creates loud noise that makes it hard to sleep at night for those that live, like me, next to this roadway. If approved, traffic will increase by 20,780 trips per day creating more unwanted noise. This area has long been part of the Orcutt community plan with nothing to do with the city of Santa Maria.
Also, Righetti High School is now at 145% of capacity. When students are going to and from school, we now have difficulty pulling out of our neighborhood onto Foster Road. If approved these added students will make it “exponentially” worse!
What is the basis of this ill conceived gobble by the city of Santa Maria? What is motivating their actions? Let’s look at the project! It is a project consisting of 400 apartments, 95 town homes, and a retail commercial center. The city of Santa Maria wants to annex this property for two reasons-tax revenue and state housing mandates, both at Orcutt’s expense.
Orcutt now has 34 key sites in the Orcutt Community Plan. Any changes need to be made by the citizens of Orcutt, not Santa Maria. There is no doubt that dwellers in this project will use Orcutt’s resources such as schools, law enforcement, fire and rescue, parks, trails and roadways. All will be overwhelmed at the expense of Orcutt citizens without representation.
How does Santa Maria exercise this authority over Orcutt?
Years ago Santa Maria and a supervisor from Santa Maria decided that Orcutt did not need state water. They have continued to control growth with a grip on water through the years even though Orcutt has its own vast supply of underground water. Every time a new development comes along, Santa Maria uses the “Monopoly Water Card” and refuses to sell water unless the project is annexed.
Today Orcutt residents have more expendable income than Santa Maria and, in fact, support elements of Santa Maria’s economy such as Costco, Home Depot/Lowes, car dealerships, big box stores, hospitals, etc. Santa Maria reaps the benefits via taxes without providing services to Orcutt.
While Santa Maria tore down its historic downtown and it still struggles to survive, Orcutt did the opposite. Orcutt residents formed the “Old Town Orcutt Revitalization Association” and transformed Old Town Orcutt into a thriving historical downtown.
Join me in assembling a group to incorporate Orcutt, which was established in 1904. If we’re successful, Orcutt would become the third largest city in Santa Barbara County — larger than Guadalupe, Buellton, Solvang, Carpinteria, Goleta and Lompoc. Contact Steve LeBard to join our group at 805-7141165
Ken McCalip
Northern Santa Barbara County native
Editor’s note: Mr. McCalip holds bachelor and doctorate degrees in history, cultural geography, and law from various California universities. He can be reached at kennethmccalip@yahoo.com.
