SANTA BARBARA - A global-warming activist has withdrawn a proposal to paint blue lines across a swathe of the city depicting the level the ocean could rise to if Greenland's ice sheets keep melting.

The project, known as "lightblueline," had attracted criticism from some residents who feared their properties would lose value if they were located on the wrong side of the predicted flood zone.

"If you're below the line, there's a stigma," said Jerry Beaver, a real estate developer who owns property that would be deluged if sea levels rise 23 feet - a scenario predicted by some scientists if Greenland's ice continues to thaw.

Bruce Caron, the activist behind the project, disputed residents' concerns the line would have impacted property values.

"That's totally bizarre logic," Caron said. "When's the last time that a temporary public art project affected real estate values anywhere on the planet?"

Beaver also said the line would have made it harder to get insurance on potentially doomed lots and said he was prepared to sue the city over its approval of the project.

The line was to have been made up of a series of foot-high blue waves painted at street corners on 68 blocks of the city.

Carson, who said he was inspired by Al Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth," withdrew his project Thursday.

"The conversation we were trying to have here would have become more and more a shouting match," Caron said. "And the whole purpose in doing this would have been lost."

The City Council had earmarked $12,000 for the project after approving it in July, but after some residents complained about the use of public funds, a councilwoman raised the money from private sources.

An estimated 140 volunteers were going to paint the light blue wave symbols.