A Santa Barbara County judge ruled in favor of developers last week, allowing a large single-family home to move a step closer to construction near the environmentally sensitive Carpinteria Salt Marsh.
After the California Coastal Commission greenlit the project in May of last year, advocacy group Friends of the Carpinteria Salt Marsh retained attorneys to fight the approval in court. Their concerns largely focused on its location at 501 Sandspit Road: a vulnerable spot surrounded by ocean, marsh, and estuary with sensitive animal and plant resources.
The proposal encompasses a nine-acre parcel of land that has been vacant since the 1950s and extends into the ocean. It proposes a 4,843-square-foot house with 3,550 square feet of raised single-story space (on stilts) and a 771-square-foot screened-in carport…