|
|
 |
|
2
0
0
4
|
| Recently The South Coast Beacon published an editorial
that berated our city and county elected officials for
the dearth of workforce housing available on the South
Coast. Although admitting that “we can’t
build our way out of this crisis and not a single person
is asking to do so” the editorial complained that
developers, poised to construct 3,000 employee-housing
units, are unable to do so due to an “anti-business
mindset” that is “shortsighted” and
“disingenuous”.
PANA encourages a balanced approach to growth in our
community and we believe that when you look behind the
headlines there is ample evidence that our community
is accomplishing much more than many people acknowledge.
For example -
- Just now reaching completion is Maravilla, the 363
unit senior housing community located on Calle Real
which promises to provide much needed housing for
seniors in our community.
- Willow Springs, built last year, is a 235-unit apartment
complex located on Los Carneros Way. It is Goleta’s
largest apartment complex and is providing affordable
housing for our workforce.
- In the application process in the City of Goleta
is Bermant Development Corporation’s Villages
at Los Carneros project (264 units), La Sumida Gardens
Apartments on Hollister in old town Goleta (200 units),
the Old Town Condos (36 units) as part of a hotel
complex in old town, Comstock’s Ali d’Oro
proposed project of 76 homes on the Ellwood Mesa in
western Goleta, and perhaps the 109 units of the Sandpiper
project pending the outcome of a lawsuit.
- On the drawing boards for eastern Goleta are the
MTD property (400 units), the Noel Christmas Tree
Farm (135 units), a Turnpike-area mixed-use project
(30 units), and perhaps the development of the School
District of Santa Barbara’s 23- acre property
near the Turnpike shopping center with up to 200 units.
- Planned in the UCSB area: the Ocean Meadows project
(56 units) on the northern edge of the golf course
and UCSB faculty homes (236 units) on Canon Green
near Phelps, faculty and family student housing units
(151units) on Storke and Whittier Drive, and the San
Clemente student housing on El Colegio (976 beds).
- In addition, there are about another 100 units planned
or in construction throughout Goleta and Isla Vista
in small subdivisions and single family homes.
Housing for seniors, housing for students, rental apartments,
single family homes - a wide variety of housing is being
built or will be built in our area in the near future.
Headlines berating the progress being made miss the
mark and contribute little to the community dialogue
about this topic.
|
|
| Housing at UCSB
In early March UC Santa Barbara kicked off efforts
to create a long range Housing Master Plan by
hosting a series of workshops. With the help of
a design consultant, the University is beginning
to develop potential housing layouts for Faculty,
Student and Staff housing concepts.
Focusing on land the University currently owns,
preliminary discussion indicates that planning
will proceed to explore ways to build 3,000 to
5,000 units of housing. The types of housing would
likely range from dormitories to single family
homes.
It is intriguing to imagine the possibilities
such a large number of units might mean for their
potentially positive impacts on traffic congestion
and relieving pressure on the community to rezone
agricultural and open spaces for housing. The
design team has promised to post information about
the project on the web. When this occurs we will
pass along the address to our readers.
The campus has expressed its intention to work
closely with officials from the City of Goleta
and the County of Santa Barbara on this plan.
Close collaboration between the various affected
jurisdictions will be key to the project’s
overall success.
|
|
|
| 1118 North Patterson
The property owner of this location is proposing to
build seven homes, two of which would be affordable
housing rentals. Neighborhood concerns have been raised
about the size, scale and bulk of some of the homes,
and the effects of traffic and setbacks to the existing
neighbors. PANA has met with the neighbors and the design
team on several occasions and appreciates the property
owner’s willingness to listen and respond to the
neighbor’s concerns. The project has been before
the county’s Board of Architectural Review which,
at its last meeting, addressed some of the neighbor’s
concerns. The project must go before the planning commission
for a rezone because the property is currently zoned
for agriculture.
|
|
| Santa Barbara School District/Tatum
Property
Located directly north of the San Marcos grower’s
site at Hollister and S. San Marcos Road is a
23-acre parcel owned by the Santa Barbara School
District. The district has begun the process of
considering how best to maximize the value of
this property which is currently zoned for housing.
They recently received information from a non-profit
developer about developing the property for housing
for the school district’s teachers and administrative
employees. While no development proposal has been
set forth, the school learned about financing
and other aspects of the development process.
The developer suggested 162 housing units for
this site, but the number of units is dependent
upon how much money the district wants to make
off the site.
The developer giving the presentation has experience
developing other public entities’ land for
housing, most recently the 900-housing units at
Cal State Channel Islands. If the school district
sells the property they can only use the proceeds
for capital improvement projects. Under the proposal
discussed by the non-profit, funds generated by
the project via rents and ground leases would
provide more flexibility for the school district
and could be used for multiple district needs.
Any development of this site will be subject to
review by the county of Santa Barbara.
|
|
|
| Noel Christmas Tree Farm
PANA has not received any recent updates from the land
owner or the county regarding this property. The last
proposal, the 11th, proposed 135 units to be built on
the property.
|
|
| MTD Property
When preliminary plans for building 400 units
of housing on this 20-acre property located on
Calle Real near Turnpike were first announced
they generated much concern. Immediate questions
focused on compatibility with adjacent neighborhoods,
traffic impacts and lack of parking. Since then,
neighbors’ concerns have been heightened
by their inability to meet with MTD officials
to learn more about the project. Public participation
is an important aspect of any development proposal
and PANA looks forward to meeting with officials
of MTD or their developers to discuss this project
in the near future.
|
|
|
| Comstock Development (Ali d’Oro) on
Ellwood Mesa
The community recently got a sense of what this proposed
upscale housing development of 76 homes on a 36-acre
portion of the existing Santa Barbara Shores Park is
going to look like. The developer erected “story
poles” so the City of Goleta’s Design Review
Board could get a sense of the site planning for and
the size, bulk and scale of the homes. To one member
of the city’s Design Review Board, it was “breathtakingly
different than anything that was imagined on paper-
the houses are closer to the monarch groves than envisioned,
the scale of the houses appeared oversized for the site,
and important viewsheds both from the bluffs and Hollister
would be impaired. For members of the community who
have been actively involved in saving the bluffs, it
was a difficult moment to encounter the reality of the
proposed project yet knowing that the trade-off of the
positioning of this housing development away from its
previously considered site closer to the bluffs will
preserve a much greater swath of the coastal plain.
This project is part of the Ellwood Devereux land-swap
which moves the housing development away from the bluffs
and onto the city of Goleta owned-property next to Hollister
Ave. The relocation will result in a 2-mile-long open
space preserve along the coastline from the Devereux
Slough area in the east to the Sandpiper Golf Course
in the west.
Recently released is the draft environmental impact
report for the Comstock homes Development and the Ellwood
Mesa Open Space Plan. It is available on line at http://www.ellwood-devereux.org/documents.asp.
|
|
| Sandpiper Development
The developer filed a $32 million lawsuit last
year against the City of Goleta following the
City’s rejection of the 109-unit housing
proposal called the Residences at Sandpiper. Recently,
the judge hearing the case in Santa Barbara Superior
Court found for the developer but the project
has been appealed by the city of Goleta. Located
at the very western end of Hollister Avenue, the
project generated significant controversy with
the Goleta City Council rejecting the project
as a result of inadequately addressed site design
concerns. The 109 unit development was approved
by the county’s board of supervisors two
weeks before the incorporation of the city of
Goleta.
|
|
|
| Bishop Ranch
Smack dab in the middle of western Goleta, owners of
this 265-acre tract of undeveloped land are attempting
to have the land rezoned for housing as part of the
city’s general plan. The developer’s representative
is actively involved in soliciting public opinion to
gain community support for the proposed 1,500 units
of housing and a 24-acre public park. The plan calls
for apartments, various housing types, a seven-acre
shopping center geared toward the neighborhood, a school
site and public gardens and recreation areas. If approved,
Calle Real will be extended through the property.
|
|
| Housing Element Update
The deadline for the County of Santa Barbara to
have updated the housing element was December
31, 2003. In an effort to respond to widespread
concern about the potential impacts of the housing
element and to retain eligibility to compete for
State housing grants, the county has divided the
update process into two parts. Phase I makes some
minor policy changes to the document and commits
the county to identifying 109 acres countywide
to rezone for various density levels of housing.
Rezoning efforts in the unincorporated area of
Goleta would likely focus on the San Marcos Growers
location on Hollister. PANA continues to maintain
its stance that the update of the housing element
does not require the rezoning of any agricultural
or open space at this time. You can read the full
text of PANA’s comments to the Board of
Supervisors http://www.panaspeedbump.org/htmls/bos3-18-04.pdf.
The first of two public hearings has taken place
with the 2nd one for scheduled for Monday March
29, at 4 PM which will be broadcast on GATV channel
20.
Phase II of the housing element, consideration
of specific design guidelines and land rezones,
will take place throughout 2004 and likely extend
to 2005. These actions will be very important
and we will keep you posted on their status as
they are scheduled.
|
|
|
| 101 in Motion
Recently, the county kicked off a $1.4 million effort
to explore solutions to current and future congestion
on 101. The community’s participation is encouraged.
Their website is www.101inMotion.com.
Obviously PANA does not know what recommendations may
result from this effort but the discussion will no doubt
address widening 101 and the feasibility of light rail.
If so, it might be useful for participants to study
congestion in another coastal California area.
The I-5/805 interchange is in northern San Diego County.
A series of projects scheduled to be concluded in 2007
will see the interchange grow to 23 lanes wide. It is
acknowledged that these improvements will not decrease
drive times, they merely hope to keep it from deteriorating
further. Considerable public opposition to the expansion
has been generated since Caltrans has conceded that
the expansion will only move the traffic bottleneck
elsewhere.
The bottleneck is expected to shift further north along
I-5 so planning has begun on a $630 million project
to expand this part of the freeway from 8 to 14 lanes.
Forty-five homeowners associations have raised concerns
about noise, fumes, and decreasing property values that
may result from the expansion.
What is extremely interesting about this specific location
and the attempts to grapple with congestion is that
alongside it sits light rail. The means to commute into
the City of San Diego currently exists and those stuck
in traffic can see the commuter trains passing them.
For whatever reason, light rail is not solving their
congestion problems and building more lanes is, at best,
maintaining the status quo. |
|
| Target
As all of you probably know, there has been much
discussion about the possibility of a Target store
being built on City of Santa Barbara land near
the airport. The specific location proposed for
the store presents some real dilemmas since the
revenue generated by the store would benefit the
City of Santa Barbara while the City of Goleta
would shoulder the impact on its infrastructure.
The discussion is further complicated when land
use decisions are added to the mix. Is the use
of this land by a large retailer whose employees
typically earn low wages going to benefit our
community or add further demands to build subsidized
housing? Will it negatively impact other locally
owned businesses?
This is an excellent example of the contradiction
of the State’s tax system. Property taxes
flow to the State and make building housing an
expensive prospect for local jurisdictions. Revenue
from commercial activities remain with the local
jurisdiction and can be very attractive to cash-strapped
cities. So, while the State makes it very clear
that our number one priority is to build housing
our tax structure encourages communities to do
just the opposite.
In an effort to gain some consensus, the Santa
Barbara City Council intends to open up the discussion
in the next few weeks with the south coast community
about what is the best use for this area.
|
|
|
| Valley Voice
Since January, the Valley Voice has been publishing
a monthly article by PANA that focuses on neighborhood
issues. We appreciate the Valley Voice’s support
of our efforts to give voice to the concerns for neighborhood
compatibility and quality of life issues. Recent articles
can be viewed at www.goletavalleyvoice.com.
(Look in the archives section). The columns are also
on our website: www.panaspeedbump.org
|
|
| Third District Candidates
PANA is a non-partisan organization but we would
like to thank candidates Brooks Firestone and
John Buttny for meeting with the PANA board and
sharing their thoughts on land use issues prior
to the recent election. We appreciate the fact
that both were willing to take time out of their
busy schedules to do so. Congratulations to Mr.
Firestone on his victory.
|
|
|
Dutcher Design 2003
|
 |
|
