Rancho La Laguna – Prime Ag Land in the Santa Ynez Valley

EDC and our clients, Santa Ynez Valley Alliance and SBCAN, have been working for years to preserve the Santa Ynez Valley’s agricultural heritage and stop a proposal to subdivide the 4,000-acre Rancho La Laguna into 13 parcels for development purposes.

The incredibly rich and scenic Rancho La Laguna is located in the San Rafael Mountains overlooking the Valley.  The land – full of rolling hills, deep canyons, and oak forests – is home to amazing biodiversity. Fifty-six rare wildlife and plant species call this quintessential Santa Barbara landscape home and currently coexist side-by-side with cattle grazing and farming.  Splitting this land into smaller lots for development will undermine not only the agricultural integrity of the Ranch and nearby farms, but will also eliminate much of the natural resources that make this area so beautiful.

In August 2017, EDC and our clients convinced the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors to deny a proposal to subdivide Rancho La Laguna. Unfortunately, the owners immediately sued the County. The court granted EDC’s motion to intervene on behalf of SBCAN, so EDC and our client can help defend the County’s action and work to preserve the agricultural integrity of the property and of the Santa Ynez Valley.