Goleta City Council approves first historic preservation and cultural resources ordinance
GOLETA, Calif. – The Goleta City Council on Tuesday approved the city's first Historic Preservation and Cultural Resources ordinance, which creates regulations and protections that promote preservation of historical, archaeological, and tribal cultural resources, structures, and sites.
“In adopting this ordinance, we are celebrating and recognizing Goleta’s history and prehistory, some of the things that make our city so special. We are very excited to get these protections in place,” said Mayor Paula Perotte.
The goal of the ordinance is to "preserve and protect resources that, once lost, cannot be replaced or replicated," said city spokesman Jaime Shaw.
The ordinance creates a Historic Preservation Commission, historic designation categories and a process to designate properties, and establishes regulations and processes regarding changes to those designated properties. among other things.
The ordinance also establishes processes and criteria for when any "earth-disturbing" activities in native soils are proposed, to check for archeological or tribal cultural resources in order to protect those resources, Shaw said.
"The Historic Preservation Ordinance includes regulations that may affect some property owners, especially property owners of designated Historic Resources," he explained.
"The regulations regarding Archaeological and/or Tribal Cultural Resources could potentially affect any property owners who are contemplating work involving earth-disturbing activities (i.e., trenching for utilities, digging for new foundations, etc.)."
It also develops standards that would apply to earth-disturbing activities and adds 34 definitions related to Historic Preservation and Archaeological and Tribal Cultural Resources to the Goleta Municipal Code.
The ordinance comes after more than five years of planning, and the first hearing of it was unanimously approved at Tuesday's first in-person/hybrid city council meeting. At the same meeting, the council also approved its first Historic Resources Inventory and Goleta Landmark Designated Sites and Structures.
