Plans For Mattie's Tavern Revealed - Valley Landmark May Change Dramatically

Back in April I posted on Doug Herthel’s sale of four adjacent lots he owned on the west side of Mattei’s Tavern to Santa Rita Land & Vine LLC, a Santa Barbara company for $2.25 million.

Mr. Herthel has said all along that he bought the property in the first place because he and his wife had become aware of plans to build a convenience store on the site and did not want that to happen. So, it seems the initial intention was to protect the sight, which is zoned commercial, from having a small commercial enterprise open up that they feel didn’t suit the location. Good.. Fine.. This seems to be the same intentions that moved Herthel and others to form POLO --- Preservation Of Los Olivos… preserve Los Olivos. Ok. Very commendable.

At a VPAC General Meeting back in October of 2005, Mr. Herthel gave a brief presentation of what POLO does and what they will be doing in the future – which by their own words was “overall protecting the spaces in Los Olivos”

POLO, as you probably know by now, has been dogging, for years, every commercial enterprise the Chumash have decided to embark upon in the valley…...from gas stations to the Royal Scandanavian, to Fredrico’s old place where they never asked for a zoning change. What ever it was they were doing, according to POLO, was a ploy against all of us to take over our valley and funnel everyone who passed through our valley to the casino. If they sneezed, it was all part of a master blueprint to take over the Santa Ynez Valley and beyond.

In the April post I stated that I thought it was rather flippant and a risk given Herthel’s apparent wishes for the land and POLO’s mission statement of “protecting spaces in Los Olivos”, to sell the lot to an unknown outfit who did not state what their plans for the lot would be.

The attorney for Santa Rita Land & Vine, at the time, when asked about plans for the property said “no comment”.

Yet, Herthel said back then that he “heard” that Santa Rita Land & Vine was “into environmental protection and green building.”

He said that he “believed” their plans included only the restoration of Mattei’s Tavern and renovation of the kitchen. It “seemed” to him at the time that the outfit was “extremely first-class”

So he “heard” and “believed” and it “seemed”. Where did all these warm fuzzy feelings about Santa Rita Land & Vine come from?

Could it have been $2.25 million whispering in his ear? In a depressed economy that’s enough to make even the best of us sell out… What the hell…“heard” and “believed” and it “seemed” is close enough...... SOLD !!! Let’s just hold our breath and close our eyes and hope for the best.

I said in April that it just didn’t seem like this kind of sale was in the best interest of protecting or preserving spaces in Los Olivos when there is no guarantee of what the new owners have planned.

So now, 6 months later we finally find out what Santa Rita’s plans are and it’s not just a renovation of the existing buildings. No.. it’s much more. The plans are to build a 70-room boutique hotel and a second restaurant. Three of the five original historic cottages would be relocated and converted to guest rooms. Seventeen, two-story guesthouses would house the additional 65 rooms.

So much for preservation. I think I would have perferred a small convienence store instead of pavement for 118 cars.

These plans, if approved as is, would transform the site into something pretty much unrecognizable to what we have known as Mattie’s Tavern and it's surrounding historical buildings and landscape.

I was married 27 years ago out on the back lawn at Mattie’s. That little spot, in all probability, will disappear.

Back in April I said how ironic it would be for POLO and Herthel to go before the Planning Commission to fight whatever potential project this company might propose.

So what does POLO have to say about these plans?

Kathy Cleary, who is a member of Preservation of Los Olivos, said the group will not take a stand on the project.

The official statement was: “P.O.L.O. is fully supportive of private property rights and so historically P.O.L.O. has not gotten involved in projects when the project will stay within the property’s zoning.”

Can you say “copout” and really I am not surprised…. what else are they going to say… “Whoops”?

Like I said in April.. “ a nice little park would have been great and more to what POLO represents, but of course $2.25 million in a depressed real estate market isn’t too shabby and I don’t blame Mr. Herthel one bit and completely support his right to do anything he likes with his property”.

But to me it seems rather hypocritical and pretty much a sell out of the people who support him and POLO in lieu of what he and POLO represent.

Again, so much for preservation.

An after thought… if this project is approved would any new construction, where new ground is broken, be subject to SB 18? A law which POLO in other development projects has said the Chumash have abused but in reality is the County’s responsibility to follow and where in the past they have failed miserably.

SB 18 requires that all cities and counties notify and consult with California Native American Tribes about proposed local land use planning decisions for the purpose of protecting traditional tribal cultural places and sacred sites. This legislation took effect on March 1, 2005.

Here is a link to the parent company of Santa Rita Land & Vine if you’re interested. Not much info but it gives you an idea of who they are: http://terroir-development.com/1.html