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SACRAMENTO -- The
pace of urbanization in Santa Barbara
County from 1998-2000 increased compared
to 1996-98, and a significant amount of
new cultivated land – primarily
vineyards but also some row crops – was
created, according to a map released
today by the California Department of
Conservation. The map is designed to
help local governments evaluate land-use
planning decisions.
The Farmland Mapping
and Monitoring Program (FMMP), part of
DOC's Division of Land Resource
Protection, maps 44.5 million acres of
California's public and private land to
produce a major study every two years.
In Santa Barbara
County, 1,491 net acres of land were
urbanized during the current mapping
cycle compared to 264 acres during the
1996-98 cycle. Much of the urbanization
took place in the Santa Maria area,
including the Cherry Blossom Ranch
Homes, Montalagre Homes, the River Oaks
Housing Division and an expanded water
treatment plant. Also noted were 20
acres of new homes in Santa Ynez and
structures occupying 70 acres in the
vicinity of Vandenberg Air Force Base.
There are 4,536 more
acres of urbanized land in Santa Barbara
County now than there were in 1990.
However, there are also 8,321 more
cultivated acres. Most of that has come
from the conversion of grazing land.
During the 1998-2000 mapping cycle,
5,404 new acres of cultivated land were
created.
Looking ahead, the
county reports that 1,062 acres –
including 775 acres of farmland – have
been committed to non-agricultural use
in the future. Often, this is land
earmarked for development. In some cases
infrastructure development, such as
sewer installation, may be underway.
Of the 1,039,816
acres in Santa Barbara County, 13
percent are farmland, 56 percent are
grazing land, 6 percent are urban land
and 24 percent are “other” land – a
category that includes wetlands,
low-density “ranchettes” and brush or
timberlands unsuitable for grazing from
1998-2000. The remainder is water area.
The map has been sent
to Santa Barbara County planning
officials. Interested parties such as
the county Farm Bureau, Local Agency
Formation Commission, planning
consultants and the county resource
conservation district have received
copies.
"We do this mapping
to help counties plan and prepare for
their expected growth in the coming
years," explained Department of
Conservation Director Darryl Young.
"This information is a tool that can
help Santa Barbara County and other
local governments balance the needs of a
growing population with those of the
agricultural economy."
Santa Barbara
County's agricultural land will continue
to face development pressure in the
foreseeable future. The California
Department of Finance projects the
county's population will grow from its
current 415,600 to 521,200 in 2020.
According to the
California Department of Food and
Agriculture, the gross value of Santa
Barbara County's agricultural production
was more than $739 million in 2000,
ranking it 14th among the state's 58
counties.
The latest statewide
study by the FMMP, Farmland Conversion
Report 1996-98, was released in the fall
of 2000. About 70,000 acres were
urbanized throughout the state; more
than 43,000 acres of the new urban land,
an area about the size of the city of
Modesto, were developed on agricultural
land. A new statewide report will be
released this summer.
Through the
Department of Conservation, the state
offers programs that provide financial
incentives to keep land in agricultural
use.
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