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Citizens Planning Association records
SBHC Mss 119
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Table of contents
Title: Citizens Planning Association records
Identifier/Call Number: SBHC Mss 119
Language of Material:
English.
Contributing Institution:
UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections
Physical Description:
72 Linear Feet
(57 cartons, 1 document box, 1 film reel, 3 Betamax, 27 videocassettes, 14 audiocassettes)
Creator:
Citizens Planning Association of Santa Barbara County
Date (inclusive): approximately 1960-2010
Abstract: This collection contains fifty-eight boxes of records and audiovisual materials created by the Citizens Planning Association
from 1960-2010.
Physical Location: A portion of the collection is located at the Southern Regional Library Facility (SRLF).
A portion of the collection is stored offsite. Advance notice is required for retrieval. Audiovisual materials must be reformatted
for access. Please contact the Department of Special Research Collections in advance to request access. Some files in this
collection may contain restricted materials.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Research Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish
or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Research Collections. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of the Department of Special Research Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.
[Identification of Item], Citizens Planning Association Records, SBHC Mss 119. Department of Special Research Collections,
UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Gift of Citizens Planning Association, 2015
This collection contains the records of the Citizens Planning Association or CPA. CPA was established in 1960 as a non-profit
organization in Santa Barbara, California with a mission to educate county residents about land use issues and to inculcate
public participation into county planning processes.
Largely staffed by volunteers and funded by donations, their founding was inspired by the work of Pearl Chase's Plans and
Planting Committee, which was established just prior to the 1925 Santa Barbara earthquake. The newly formed committee guided
the rebuilding of the city and eventually the general development of the county.
CPA was instrumental in the creation of the original City of Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara County General Plans in the early
1960s. General, or Comprehensive Plans, are a blueprint for the growth of a community according to its particular priorities.
California law requires that elements, or topics relevant to growth, be covered in county and community General Plans. CPA
records reflect the elements covered in the General Plan. Citizens Planning Association,"... exists to uphold the integrity
of the General Plan and to support sound community planning". This effort is carried out through the establishment of committees
that conduct research on local issues, make recommendations to city and county officials, publish public statements, partner
with like-minded organizations and advocate for their positions through public education and litigation.
"CPA was founded to protect the unmatched assets of Santa Barbara County and assure their appropriate development; to alert
residents to the hazards of unregulated growth, to cooperate with private groups and public offices in designing sound planning
goals for our communities and surrounding countryside, and to conduct educational programs on behalf of those objectives"
– Naomi Kovacs, former director of CPA.
Sources
Citizens Planning Association: https://www.citizensplanning.org/about-us/the-need/ (accessed on 7/21/23)
County of Santa Barbara Comprehensive Plan https://www.countyofsb.org/954/Comprehensive-Plan (accessed on 7/21/23)
Pearl Chase Society: https://www.pearlchasesociety.org/(accessed on 7/21/23)
Manuscript materials for AV items are located in Series VIII, Box 58, Folder 4.
These records were generated by the Citizens Planning Association of Santa Barbara, California, in the course of its activities
in land use and natural resource protection advocacy work. Materials consist primarily of issue files related to development,
oil, water, air and transportation within Santa Barbara County from 1960 through 2010. They are divided into eight series:
Development, Administrative files, Oil, Water, Air, Transportation, Miscellaneous and Audiovisual. The most robust series
are Development, Oil and Miscellaneous. Housing does not have its own series, however, there are documents pertaining to housing
scattered throughout the Miscellaneous series. If there is a significant number of housing documents in a Miscellaneous box,
it will be indicated in the title. While each box is titled according to box content, the titles are based on how much material
in each box is relevant to a particular topic. Therefore, not all topics in a box are identified in each title, only the top
three or less are included. If there are no dominant themes, the box is labeled as miscellaneous.
Series Description
Series I: Development. This series contains CPA documents pertaining to major development projects in Santa Barbara County from 1970 to 2007. It
includes newspaper clippings, CPA comments on general plans and amendments, letters to the editor, legal documents, campaign
documents, memorandums, and transcribed meeting proceedings. Of note are the materials detailing the development projects
of Fess Parker, former actor and developer, who has an extended history on the Central Coast of California.
Series II: Administrative files. This series includes records created from 1960-2008 that facilitate the operation and management of CPA such as CPA Executive
Board agendas and minutes, committee research and meeting agendas, membership documents, fundraising documents, outreach materials,
correspondence, newsletters, and governing documents. Chronological files contain the majority of the executive board agendas
and minutes. CPA committee boxes contain research compiled according to the committee topic. Committee titles include the
following: North County Land Use Committee, Coastal Planning Committee, Housing for Low Income Families Committee, Land Use
Committee, Nominating Committee, Membership and Finance Committee, Sign Ordinance Committee, Transportation Committee, Water
Committee, Comprehensive Planning Committee, Growth Management Committee, and Noise Reduction Committee. Of note is a folder
of CPA Newsletters issued from 1977-1979 in box 2.
Series III: Oil. This series contains CPA documents created from 1978-2006 pertaining to oil drilling and refinement in Santa Barbara County
such as litigation records, seismic surveys, local protests, mitigation studies, county oil policies, oil transportation,
economic impact studies, oil and gas leasing, platform abatement, onshore air quality, oil and gas processing facilities,
drill muds, and coastal development permits.
Series IV: Water. This series contains CPA documents created from 1976-2010 pertaining to water conservation, water rights, desalination, watershed
management, reservoir management, groundwater management, water supply alternatives, water districts, water legislation, the
State Water Project, water quality control boards and newspaper clippings from local media sources on water issues. It does
not include records relevant to coastal management.
Series V: Air. This series contains documents collected and created from 1978-2001 by CPA pertaining to coastal air basins, onshore air
quality, outer continental shelf air regulation, and the Santa Barbara Air Quality Maintenance Taskforce. Much of this series
is closely related to oil drilling in Santa Barbara County and its possible impacts on overall air quality.
Series VI: Transportation. This series includes CPA records created from 1971-2006 pertaining to passenger rail, highway 101 corridor projects, traffic
simulations, roadway maintenance, transportation surveys, parking initiatives, Transportation Alternative Plans (TAP), Transportation
Improvement Plans (TIP), the Transportation Demand Ordinance, and the Scenic Highways element.
Series VII: Miscellaneous. Boxes in the miscellaneous series contain a mix of records from series I-VI.The most common topics in each box are listed
in the title. If there are no dominant topics, the box is labeled miscellaneous. If a significant portion of a miscellaneous
box is relevant to one or more of Series I-VI, it is also listed in those series. The records were created from 1960 to 2008.
Series VIII: Audiovisual.
This series includes black and white photographs, slides, audiocassettes, motion picture film, and videocassettes dating from
1960 to 2005. Of note is a slide presentation, and accompanying audio, titled "Oil and Our Future".
Related Collections at UCSB Library Special Research Collections
- Community Development and Conservation Collection, SBHC Mss 1. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library.
- Get Oil Out! (GOO!) collection, SBHC Mss 10. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library.
- Coastal Resources Information Center records, SBHC Mss 122. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library.
- Environmental Defense Center records, SBHC Mss 94. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library.
- Guide to the Santa Barbara Oil Spill Scrapbook, SHBC Mss 52. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library.
- County Resource Management Office (CRMO) Collection, SBHC Mss 25. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Citizens' advisory committees -- California -- Santa Barbara County -- Archives
Petroleum industry and trade -- Environmental aspects -- California -- Santa Barbara County
Water quality management -- California -- Santa Barbara County
Water-supply -- California -- Santa Barbara County -- Management
Air quality management -- California -- Santa Barbara County
transportation -- Environmental aspects -- California -- Santa Barbara County
transportation -- Capital investments -- California -- Santa Barbara County
Records (documents)
Video recordings
Local histories
Citizens Planning Association of Santa Barbara County -- Archives