Here's a title from the Santa Maria Times:
Solvang residents protest bike lane through Rancho Santa Ynez Estates neighborhood
Council adopts SYV bicycle master plan
 |
| (click) Santa Maria Times Article |
And the story line that followed:
Mayor Jim Richardson joins call for more bike lanes at Mayor’s Bike Ride Cyclists of all ages and abilities gathered at Solvang City Hall just before noon Thursday to join the Mayor’s Bike Ride around several blocks…
After more than a year of community planning, isolated community members respond to bike infrastructure like this:
“If the city wants to continue
to put bike path in our area you should get us involved,” said Bud
McCoy, who like many of his neighbors, hadn’t heard of the bike path
until construction workers were cordoning off Fjord Drive in preparation
for road work. “We feel that you just ramrodded that down our throats.”
"The
master plan was developed by the Santa Barbara County Association of
Governments over more than a year of planning, including four meetings
of the Technical Advisory Committee, meetings with schools, public
health and business representatives, surveys, interviews, and a series
of public workshops held in October 2018 and March 2019."
Thankfully the Solvang Council saw through the residents uninformed protest. After staff reporting, public comment and brief
council deliberation, the city council voted 4-1 to adopt the Solvang
portion of the Santa Ynez Valley Bicycle Master Plan.
-LS
