News - Local - South County

Tuesday, Jun. 24, 2008

South County ranchers again try to move 4,700 acres into Santa Barbara County

The Perretts, whose property straddles county line, want all of it to be on Santa Barbara side

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South County ranchers who tried unsuccessfully to move 4,700 acres into Santa Barbara County two years ago are back for another try—a move that some Nipomo residents fear could lead to housing construction in the area.

H. D. and Carol Perrett own Suey Ranch, which straddles the border between the two counties. But they say they are bound economically and in other ways to Santa Maria, which is in Santa Barbara County.

Ed Eby, a member of the Nipomo Community Services District board, said many people in South County fear the Perretts would eventually seek annexation to the city of Santa Maria, which has less stringent restrictions on development.

H. D. Perrett told The Tribune on Monday he has no plans to build houses on the land, which he uses for agriculture.

“I’ve invested a huge amount of money in growing avocados,” he said. “It’s better than growing houses.”

Eby said the Nipomo services district will discuss the Perretts’ application to move the county lines at its Wednesday meeting. He said he would like to see an environmental impact report on the proposed boundary change.

He also questions the urgency of the Perretts’ application, suggesting that they want to move the border before Supervisors Jerry Lenthall and Harry Ovitt leave the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors.

In their petition to change boundaries, the Perretts said that services — such as church, health care and fire protection—are more distant for them in San Luis Obispo County.

They added that they have invested $15 million in growing avocados on 1,300 acres and feel that San Luis Obispo County sheriff’s deputies cannot provide adequate protection because of their “limited availability.”

“It’s out of their way,” H. D. Perrett said Monday of the deputies, stressing that he does not mean to criticize them.

“Santa Maria police patrol the territory adjacent to the affected property around the clock,” the Perretts wrote.

The 4,735 acres in question are east of Highway 101, south of Highway 166, north of the Santa Maria River, and west of the Cuyama River.

The county line was drawn in 1850, the Perretts wrote, and “it no longer makes sense for a 160-year-old determination to dictate governance of this property.”

The last time the Perretts sought to change boundaries, in 2005, San Luis Obispo County planners recommended that supervisors deny the transfer because they would be relinquishing land-use decisions, losing revenue from property taxes, and creating a “convoluted” and “confusing” boundary.

In 2005, supervisors unanimously denied the land transfer but left the door open for the Perretts to come back.