Proposed house near Carpinteria Salt Marsh stirs community and legal debate
The Carpinteria Salt Marsh — a portion of the remaining coastal wetlands in Santa Barbara County — has become a legal battleground over a proposed house at 501 Sand Point Road. The house, elevated above an environmentally sensitive habitat area (ESHA) has been contested over environmental concerns. Friends of the Carpinteria Salt Marsh say construction will threaten hundreds of species that call the marsh their habitat, as well as the vital flooding control function of the marsh. … On Wednesday, Judge Thomas P. Anderle of the Superior Court of Santa Barbara postponed a court hearing between the Friends of the Carpinteria Salt Marsh (an organization that aimed to challenge the environmental legality of the project) and the California Coastal Commission. … When extreme weather leads to flooding, Carpinteria’s wetlands serve as a vital stormwater distribution outlet — preventing disastrous debris-flows that have decimated Santa Barbara in the past.
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