The Future of the Sta. Rita Hills Development Below the Radar in Santa Ynez Valley Wine Country
The Independent, Thursday, November 29, 2007
By José Baer, manager of Rancho Viña.
While the battle rages along the Gaviota Coast over development of agriculturally zoned land, Lakeview Estates in the Sta. Rita Hills quietly attempts to slip in below the radar. Most of you will have heard of the Sta. Rita Hills, which has gained fame with its world-class pinot noir, but chances are few of you have heard of Lakeview Estates.
Lakeview Estates is a 1,568-acre subdivision consisting of 35 parcels and located above a proposed, but never completed, reservoir (hence “Lakeview”) on the Santa Ynez River, about 10 miles west of Buellton and five miles east of Lompoc. This subdivision spills down from the ridge of the Sta. Rita Hills to the Santa Ynez River and contains some of the most coveted wine grape land in Santa Barbara County. The subdivision is surrounded entirely by agricultural lands in a region that produces some of the best wine grapes in the world, as well as a mix of other crops, from broccoli to tomatoes. Registered in 1968 with little forethought to development, the hope was these “lakefront” parcels would become valuable in the future.
