Secure Coastal Access and Trails

[UPDATE: At Tuesday's hearing the Planning Commission made a motion to send the project on to the Board of Supervisors without approving the project. Comment letters and postcards received before the hearing are posted here. More postcards were sent than the ones posted online. Thanks to all who participated. The hearing with the Board of Supervisors will be in February 2015]

On September 23rd, the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission will consider how to provide public access to and along 2 miles of scenic shoreline on Gaviota’s Las Varas Ranch, including the location of the California Coastal Trail and beach access. This is the second hearing. Please join us in sending the ultimate in personalized messages to the Planning Commission: a real postcard with your selfie image.

Do It the Easy Way

Send a photo, your name, and city to [here] and we will take care of everything. We will send the message below, along with your photo, to the Planning Commissioners. Afterwards, we will follow up with an email showing you how both sides of the card look.

California Coastal Trail Through GaviotaStill Easy...Do it Yourself

Below we have listed the steps to send a postcard online. Follow the instructions to send for free or create your own account.


Send for Free | Printing and postage paid by Trails Council

SIMPLE WAY TO SEND A POSTCARD ONLINE - TAKES 1-2 MINUTES!

  1. Go to [popup url="http://www.touchnote.com" height="800" width="1200" scrollbars="yes" alt="popup"]www.touchnote.com[/popup]
  2. Click “sign-in” at the top. Sign in with this email: coastaltrail@sbtrails.org and this password: openspace2014
  3. Tap “Send Postcards”.
  4. Choose a photo: you can send a “selfie” or any image from your computer.
  5. Tap "Next" to add your message (adding “TEXT” is optional)

Please copy and paste the following message:

Dear Commissioners,

I strongly support the County requiring a bluff top location for the California Coastal Trail and protection of bluff top open space as part of development of the Las Varas Ranch! I urge the Planning Commission to explore creative tools to acquire bluff top open space and the Coastal Trail.

Respectfully,
[add your name], [add city name]

Please note that the message is limited to 14 lines, which can be annoying.

  1. Tap "Next" to add the address and select Commissioner Blough’s address from the address book by clicking on it.
  2. Select Commissioner Blough’s address from the address book by clicking on it. All five commissioners will receive a message sent to him.
  3. That's it! Tap "Next" to see a preview and then "Send" to send your postcard !

If you have any questions or issues, you can send them to us [here].

preview of postcard

Example showing postcard preview