CityofGoleta
By the City of Goleta
The City of Goleta’s Design Review Board (DRB) is holding a Conceptual and Preliminary Design Review of a proposed mixed-use project at its next meeting on July 25, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. The meeting will be held in person at Goleta City Hall Council Chambers (130 Cremona Drive) and via the Zoom platform. A link can be found in the agenda, posted at least 72 hours in advance at http://cityofgoleta.org/goletameetings. The public may also view the meeting on the City’s website or Goleta TV Channel 19.
The applicant, RRM Design Group, has proposed the construction of a Housing Accountability Act housing development project for a new three-story, mixed-use building on a vacant 0.53-acre lot. The applicant also submitted a Senate Bill 330 Streamlined Housing review project application for which they have vested their development rights, and the project is limited to a total of five (5) public hearings.
The building would total 14,257 square feet, comprising 1) one commercial office space of 585 square feet, 2) 14 one-bedroom residential units totaling 11,520 square feet, and 3) 2,152 square feet of common areas dedicated to residential use. The 14 residential units would range in size from 694 to 979 square feet. Each residential unit will have a private patio or balcony associated with the unit. An approximately 585-square-foot patio would be shared between the commercial and residential tenants and 3,454 square feet of outdoor area would be shared by residents only. Parking includes 20 uncovered automobile parking spaces plus 10 short-term and 16 long-term bicycle parking spaces. The project includes a trash enclosure and other site amenities. The proposed project will be all electric and no gas connection is proposed. The lot is located on the southeast corner of the Calle Real/Los Carneros roundabout and is zoned Office Institutional (OI).
The maximum number of units which the City would allow for this site is 10.6 dwelling units, at 20 dwelling units per acre the maximum density allowed by the OI zoning district; however, the project is designed using State Bonus Density Law (SBDL). The proposed 14-unit project will have a density of 26.4 units per acre. The applicant will be meeting the City’s inclusionary housing requirements (20% of the project) by deed-restricting two of the units for low-income households plus paying an additional in-lieu fee for a fractional unit. In addition to the density bonus, the project is applying SBDL parking requirements (one space per residential unit plus commercial parking based on square footage) requesting concessions from the City’s parking lot heat island standards (Goleta Municipal Code Section 17.38.110.J) and a waiver to allow a proposed building height of 37’2”, which is two feet over the 35’ maximum height standard for the OI zone district. The project is not requesting any zoning modifications and meets the City’s requirements for maximum lot coverage, setbacks, open space and landscaping. The entitlements required for this project are Design Review approval, a Development Plan, and a Conditional Use Permit with the Planning Commission acting as the Review Authority.
Following the Conceptual and Preliminary DRB hearing on July 25, the project will be considered by the Planning Commission for action on the following applications: 1) a new Development Plan to construct the project; 2) a Major Conditional Use Permit to allow Mixed-Use and Multiple-Unit Development in the Office Institutional Zone; and 3) Design approval. The Planning Commission will also review and consider the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) analysis for this project.
Written submittals concerning agenda items may be sent to the Design Review Board Secretary, Mary Chang, at mchang@cityofgoleta.org. Written information must be submitted to the Design Review Board (DRB) no later than 24 hours prior to the Design Review Board meeting. Communication received after that time may not be reviewed by the DRB prior to the meeting. Sign up here to have DRB Agendas sent to your inbox.
Please direct questions and/or comments regarding this project and the DRB Conceptual and Preliminary Review hearing to Associate Planner Christina McGuire at cmcguire@cityofgoleta.org.
Sad to see our city’s open spaces being taken slowly one by one. Our charm is gone. We have become Southern California an extension of LA. I can remember many years ago my father said one day there will be nothing to separate us from Los Angeles. He hit that one right.
“The lot is located on the southeast corner of the Calle Real/Los Carneros roundabout and is zoned Office Institutional (OI).” …so using the magic G 6491 Calle Real
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.4398524,-119.8524255,113m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu
seems to be the only area that fits the description of “vacant 0.53-acre lot”?
Especially since it’s planned to be all-electric, why would they use 20 uncovered parking spaces rather than cover them with solar panels for a win-win?
The City of Goleta should green light this project and get it going like now/now. It would be nice if they could maybe bump it up another story so as to maximize the number of units. Parking might be an issue, but with more and more folks going carless (e-bikes, walking, and taking MTD buses) lack of places to park should not be an issue. As a matter of fact, give priority to those who do not require a parking space. Possibly MTD could be required to run an electric shuttle between UCSB to Cottage Goleta (from the roundabout near Goleta Beach through the campus, then Los Carneros over the Freeway to Calle Real, then Calle Real all the way to Patterson, back over the freeway to Cottage Goleta….something like that anyway).
MTD would probably be happy to run an electric shuttle if someone would just pay for it, and recruit enough drivers to cover the line. They can’t be required to add service if they don’t have the money or drivers. They aren’t even back to pre-Covid service levels.
14 units on half an acre right on a roundabout. The developers are using all the tools provided by the State to make this unbelievably stupid project glide right through the process. Hopefully our elected officials will make a stand for the citizens they represent and Fight Back. Hopefully…..
The Islamic Mosque on the opposite “corner” has 40+ parking spaces & in the 3 yrs it has been in use I don’t recall any traffic issues at the roundabout.
Please tell us who will be directly adversely impacted by the 14 residential units there.
And while you’re at, would you also define what it is that makes it an “unbelievably stupid project”?
Somebody ought to tell the architect that ’70s-style architecture went out of favor several decades ago.