Katy Perry is facing pushback from hundreds of neighbors in California’s Goleta Valley over plans for a permanent youth camp and arts center on a 110-acre property, with residents citing wildfire evacuation risks, traffic, and noise.
The project, called Gratitude Canyon, is being developed by the singer and her sister Angela Lerche through their Firework Foundation. It would serve as a year-round base for Camp Firework, the nonprofit’s sleepaway program that has hosted nearly 1,000 middle-school kids from underserved communities for arts, music, and outdoor activities. The proposed site sits at 183 Winchester Canyon Road in unincorporated Santa Barbara County. Plans call for building on roughly 3 percent of the land—about 15 to 16 acres—while leaving the rest as open space, restored habitat, and working orchards. The facilities would include eight cabins, counselor housing, a dining hall, gymnasium, pool, tennis and pickleball courts, an amphitheater, and a recording studio.
As of early November, more than 360 residents from surrounding neighborhoods had signed a petition opposing the development. Organizer Jen Lilienstein and other neighbors have said they support the charitable intent but believe the location is unsuitable. “We have zero problem with (Katy giving back to the community),” resident Sandra McGreevy told local outlet Noozhawk. Their main concerns center on safety and quality of life. The canyon has limited access via a single two-lane road, and residents worry that a wildfire could create a dangerous bottleneck if residents, campers, staff, and event attendees all needed to evacuate at once. They also argue the project’s fire modeling did not fully account for peak attendance during special events.
Noise is another point of contention. Neighbors describe the canyon as a natural echo chamber and say even quiet nights allow them to hear ocean waves from a distance. They fear amplified sound from the amphitheater or group activities would carry into nearby homes. “We are middle-class people who can’t afford to just pick up and move somewhere else because this happens,” Lilienstein said. Additional objections include increased traffic, potential parking spillover, and the application’s allowance for up to four special events per year outside the main summer season, each capped at 400 people. Some residents have questioned whether the proposal functions more like a year-round event space and have raised issues with the requested zoning changes on the agricultural property.
The Firework Foundation has described the project as low-impact by design. Summer sessions would operate on a bus-in, bus-out model with an on-site population capped around 240 campers and staff. The team has worked with the Santa Barbara County Fire Department and former emergency management director Robert Lewin on a fire protection plan that includes vegetation management, hardened structures, and 24-hour staffing. Acoustic studies submitted to the county are said to show noise levels below local thresholds at property lines. Perry and Lerche have framed Gratitude Canyon as a place of “inspiration and access for underserved youth… rooted in the arts, nature exploration, and creative expression.” Local nonprofits, including Girls Inc. of Greater Santa Barbara and the United Boys & Girls Club, have supported the foundation’s existing programs.
The proposal remains in the early stages of review with Santa Barbara County. An environmental scoping hearing under the California Environmental Quality Act is expected in early 2027. Because the project includes a General Plan Amendment and rezone, it will ultimately require public hearings before the County Planning Commission and a vote by the Board of Supervisors.
The dispute comes as Perry continues to balance her music career with philanthropic efforts through the foundation she co-founded with her sister in 2019. While neighbors and the foundation both say they value youth programming, they remain divided on whether this particular site and scale are the right fit.
