San Marcos Foothills (Preserve @ San Marcos)
Biological Resources Impact Issues

The San Marcos Foothills is a remnant of open space between the cities of Santa Barbara and Goleta, located east of and adjacent to State Route 154, and north of State Route 192 (Foothill Road), in southern Santa Barbara County.

In 1997-1998, David Magney Environmental Consulting (DMEC) prepared the botanical and wetland resources technical appendix of an EIR for the County of Santa Barbara (County), as a subconsultant to Rincon Consultants,who prepared the Bridle Ridge project EIR. The Bridle Ridge project site is also referred to as the San Marcos Foothills. The Bridle Ridge development project was not approved by the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors due to the range of significant impacts the project would have had on the environment, particularly on biological resources.

In 2004, another project was proposed for the San Marcos Foothills property, referred to as the Preserve @ San Marcos. Envicom Consultants was contracted by the County to prepare an EIR for the Preserve @ San Marcos development project. DMEC was contracted by the Environmental Defense Center (EDC) and the Small Wilderness Area Preserve group (SWAP) in mid-2004 to critically review the EIR and supporting documents. DMEC reviewed the environmental assessment documents for the Preserve @ San Marcos development project and prepared several comment letters on behalf of the EDC and the SWAP, relating numerous issues of concern with the project EIR and supporting documents prepared by the developer's biological consultant, and with the wetland delineation prepared for the project in early 2005.

Selected comment letters (presented to the County of Santa Barbara) are available for download from this page.

All reports are public domain documents included in the CEQA environmental review process