I started watching Los Olivos businesses years ago when I would go out at night walking my cats. It was slow because my cats would follow me, but they have to smell everything. I had a lot of cats, and I got into trouble with the county for having so many cats, so I had to give some away. Some years later I got a spot light and began patrolling the streets with my spotlight.

 

Those are the words of Watchman Warren. Anyone coming through Los Olivos after dark has probably seen him driving slowly up and down the streets with his spot light.

“I saved the rock in Lavinia Campbell Park from kids who had dumped paint on it at two in the morning,” he says. “I washed the paint off before it dried. Other than that, I generally just drive the streets and call the owners or police if something doesn’t look right.”

Watchman Warren was born in Santa Barbara and moved to his current house in 1970. He was one of “seven brats,” has always been a bachelor and worked in the water well business.

“I drilled a lot of the wells in this town,” Warren says. “Some of them through granite.”

 

Los Olivos community members, such as Watchman Warren, take special pride in their town. Los Olivos is virtually self–sustaining — a vision for the future with great people, clean air, clean water, agriculture producing a bountiful array of crops and more than 130 businesses.

Los Olivos’s biggest challenge is wastewater disposal that currently limits the diversity of businesses that can do business here, especially food-related businesses. Lack of public restrooms has also been a problem.

Community members are actively involved in this issue. Rather than accepting sewers as a means to address wastewater issues, community members are now researching and talking to the county about other options that will allow Los Olivos to remain self- sustaining and avoid the inevitable growth that accompanies traditional sewer systems.

 

One such solution is called advanced treatment systems. These systems use a small area positioned with “pods” that take wastewater, treat it and turn it into water that can then be used for irrigation or dispersed under areas such as parking.

As an example, the company BioSolutions, Incorporated has worked with clients on all types of wastewater treatment projects. Recent clients of BioSolutions include Los Angeles Unified School District, Ventura Regional Sanitation District, the Audubon Society, County of Los Angeles, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Laguna Blanca High School and many others. BioSolutions also has systems for homeowners.(biosolutions.org/wastewatertreatmentclients.htm)

Recently a POLO board member visited two sites that use a BioSolutions system, Laguna Blanca School in Hope Ranch and Malibu Creek Plaza in Malibu. Malibu Creek Plaza is located in one of the most environmentally sensitive areas, given its close proximity to Malibu Creek, Malibu Lagoon and Surf Rider Beach.

The plaza includes a movie theater, 23 retail and commercial businesses and three restaurants. The groundwater in this location is approximately seven feet.

 

Malibu Creek Plaza’s state-of-the-art wastewater system is in a small, fenced area and was silent and odorless.

According to the California Onsite Wastewater Association’s winter 2008 newsletter, “The new system promises to eliminate any future impact to the environment.” The wastewater from this system was dispersed under the parking lot. The system sits within 30 feet of a year-round creek and its habitat.

Given the extremely high water table in the Malibu location, the success of this system demonstrates its excellent potential. Other locations take advantage of the treated water for irrigation, lessoning the demand for water.

Now that the Santa Ynez Valley Community Plan has been adopted, there will be opportunity for thoughtful and positive growth in Los Olivos and the Santa Ynez Valley.

Careful decision making that respects the needs of business, residential and agricultural property owners while maintaining our small towns can include newest technological advances that will enable our communities to preserve the past and be visions for the future.

A special thanks to all those community members who have invested their time and money into our town … and especially to Watchman Warren for all his years of volunteer service in taking care of Los Olivos.

 

 The mission of Preservation of Los Olivos (POLO) is to be actively involved in the creation of guidelines and goals to ensure a balanced community plan. We endeavor to protect our water, air, open spaces, habitat areas, cultural resources and our heritage that make up the quality of life in the Santa Ynez Valley.