CityofGoleta
By the City of Goleta
More affordable housing is in Goleta’s future. After nine years of planning and consideration, the Goleta City Council last night, March 7, 2023, approved the Heritage Ridge residential project. The 332-unit apartment project, which includes 102 affordable housing units, is the third and final phase of the adjacent Willow Springs residential development and will be located on the north side of Camino Vista Drive adjacent to Los Carneros Road.
Mayor Paula Perotte said, “There is such a tremendous need for affordable housing right now and we are so pleased that the Heritage Ridge project will give more people the opportunity to live where they work which will ultimately increase their quality of life. Less time commuting means more time to enjoy your community.”
There will be 102 affordable rental units for both seniors and families, with two manager units, and 228 market-rate rental units (total 332 units). The project also includes a two-acre public park designed with a variety of amenities to serve the recreational needs of residents and business employees in the surrounding neighborhoods, which could include people of all ages and families with young children. The park will include a playground, Chumash cultural area, walking path with exercise equipment, a multi-use turf area and a nature habitat area.
In 2019, Redtail Multifamily Land Development, LLC (“Redtail”) took over the Project from the Towbes Group. The project went through many steps to get to this point including input from the Design Review Board, Parks and Recreation Commission and Planning Commission before coming to City Council.
This Project will complete the Central Hollister Corridor housing plan outlined in General Plan Land Use Policy LU 8 and will provide affordable and market rate housing in keeping with both Land Use and Housing Element policies. The recently adopted Housing Element 6th Cycle update also includes this location as a site suitable for residential development.
The staff report can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/mut2uhwf. To watch the meeting go to https://tinyurl.com/6sud3pyn.
Goleta City Council Chambers on March 7, 2023 Heritage Ridge Public Hearing
I live in Santa Barbara, which is completely built out and up, so having more affordable units in the area for local workers is a good thing. My hope is that the folks who move into these new units will use public transportation (MTD) more than the folks in SB. As a relatively new city, Goleta seems to be hitting on all cylinders (or electric motor, if you will) and getting things “right” rather than what has and is happening in other cities. I believe that there is a huge opportunity for additional housing on that piece of land between Los Carneros/Glen Annie/Cathedral Oaks/101. I’m not sure who owns that land, but someone is holding onto some very/very valuable property. I would think that if three-story units are built there that those living there would have ocean/island views for days. Go Goleta!!!
Bishop Ranch has sold their water rights to the builders of Camino Real shopping center. They have no water rights left for their own development. But you’re right. This is valuable property and the owners (and developers) are constantly throwing money at the city council (and Sacramento) elections so as to use others’ water for their development.
https://goletahistory.com/tag/bishop-ranch/
The undeveloped land you mentioned may be the “Bishop Ranch” property. If so, Goleta City voters approved measure G in 2012, the Goleta Agricultural Land Initiative, retaining the ag designation for large parcels such as the Bishop ranch until 2032.
This is the other side of the 101 next to the apartments that are already built at Los Carneros.
We lack any vision or leadership towards a green transportation future. Looking more and more like LA with every passing day…
Maybe I missed it, but how do I apply for this housing?
That’s 332 at least new cars added to a already congested area. Much to the dismay of some these residents will more than likely not be riding bikes. Wh do we feel the need to build every square inch of land?
I think describing that area just north of 101 as “congested” is a bit of a stretch. In fact I use Los Carneros every morning because it’s got practically no traffic on it compared to Fairview or Storke.
(Meant to say just south, my bad.)
One small step for our city council, one giant punch in the gut for Goleta. More condos, more water, more sewage, more traffic. Meanwhile, they put Old Town on a road diet….
Agreed… This will compound the issues we are seeing, even if it is “only” 332 units.
Most fabulous! Now even more traffic in and out of the beleaguered 2 lanes through montecito. Perhaps Goleta should concentrate on their horrible downtown area before they build up all the surrounding areas.
Babycakes: I still don’t understand how this affects Montecito.
People who work in Ventura/Oxnard are extremely unlikely to live in Goleta and commute for work all the way to Ventura/ Oxnard, just for schools. It’s too expensive. (Unless you have a family where one parent works in Goleta and the other in Ventura or Oxnard – but in that case, there are no more cars going through Montecito. Same number, different direction.)
Also, it doesn’t matter if the low income units go to people who were born and raised here. They simply have to be eligible.
LetMeGo: It’s no secret that although not the best schools by any means, the schools in Goleta are far better than the ones in Ventura/Oxnard. Parents are willing to commute “south” in order to get their kids into better schools. It’s no secret that many of the “low-income” units are not going to those who were born/raised in the Santa Barbara and Goleta areas. Keep in mind that the big oil companies who supply gas/diesel and public utility companies are MORE than happy when folks are required to use more of their product. I hope this is starting to make sense to anyone who does not understand how “the system” really works (and the way it works is against you, you, and you).
I’m confused at why you think more apartments in Goleta are going to increase traffic through Montecito? I would expect that most people living in these apartments will work in Goleta or Santa Barbara, no?
I don’t know anyone who commutes south of Santa Barbara from Goleta. Why would they, when they could live somewhere cheaper like Ventura, Oxnard, or Thousand Oaks?
If anything this would tend to decrease commuter traffic on 101, since people currently commuting up from the Ventura area (as most of my coworkers at UCSB do) will have some chance at housing near where they work.
Nine years of planning. Nine? Really nine years of planning?! I’m just about any city anywhere in any country there could be 10 times as many buildings built, good ol SB/Goleta, we have to talk everything to death. Any why only less than half affordable housing? How about maybe 50 or a hundred regular market rate so that those of us that don’t make five grand a year be able to afford a place to live.
Who makes five grand a year?!
I don’t believe everyone realizes who is going to be living in these units. It’s people that likely already work in Goleta/SB. It’s giving our local workforce an opportunity to live in the community they work and not commute from Santa Maria & Ventura. If you want to complain about more people, don’t complain about housing but complain about the industries drawing people to this community. However, I’m not sure that’s a hill I would want to die on.
Hope the City of Goleta will reverse the misguided decision to make Hollister thru Old Town two lanes after approving another huge housing development nearby. This year SB County will rezone some of the AG and Industrial properties across from St Raphael’s church, between Ward and Patterson, for another 1500 units to really jam up a two lane Hollister thru Old town in the future. The Goleta City Council appears to not care about the existing residents quality of life by approving this latest plan with 300+ cars on road to cram into Camino Real shopping or Down thru Old town daily and weekends not to mention Goleta Beach and Parks. I assume City of Goleta will increase the police and fire personnel with this additional housing and the 1000 people that will be added. Any kids who will live in the new market rate or subsidized units will not be able to walk or even bike to elementary schools, no safe routes from this location, so add those cars to the am rush to drop off before the parents head to work. More congestion and traffic on the way. The subsidized units will be open for anyone that qualifies in ALL of SB County to apply, not just those who work in Goleta. Many of the locals will never be able to pay the market rate rent so it will be half filled with well funded students like those apartments across from Costco. A family of four (4) can make 110K USD a year and qualify to get on the list for the subsidized units. The developer is not building the subsidized units, the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Barbara (HASBARCO) has to find the financing to build it. Since HASBARCO are a non profit they will likely not pay much property tax or fees on their 100 housing units, that burden will be placed on existing residents. Goleta needs council members that will fight these mandates to build-baby-build from the CA State. Why cant we work to put a proposal on the Calif State ballot to get rid of state housing mandates?
Is there a bus to IV from this location? It’s not too far from the existing Willow Springs and the new housing development near Apeel. Once you get to La Patera and Hollister, there’s a safe bike route anyway.
There is no fighting mandates. We don’t have enough housing in CA or in SB. We just don’t. Also: the making Hollister 2 lanes is for bicycle safety.
LETMEGO: As Obama used to say “Yes we can”… so yes we can fight the Calif State Housing mandates. Why cant the people put an item on the statewide ballot to give back local control to a County or City? Seems rather un-America to take the freedom away from the local people to decide what to build locally. Local control was used by GoletaNow to sell the voters to create the City of Goleta back in 2002. Why have local cities lost the ability to decide how much housing to build? We are a democracy or not? Need to live within the local resources to be sustainable long term. Shockingly, both recently elected Goleta Council members James Kyriaco and Luz Reyes-Martin banked significant campaign donations from unions and the likes of Towbes development, so you can only expect these two to vote for more development. Not to mention these two will work to increase the cost of projects like the new fire station and train station and increase taxpayer cost at least 30% higher by voting for union labor agreements. Essentially these labor agreements will prevent local non-union contractors from bidding. BTW, the developer of the market rate for this 220 units, Redtail Land Development, clearly stated they cannot afford to build this project if they hired union labor. Unions need to compete and be able to bid on an equal basis with non-union labor, not be given the advantage just because its a government tax payer contract. I urge Kyriaco and Luz Reyes-Martin to respect and look to reduce spending of the limited taxes paid by all of us when ever they can. But when you bank tens of thousands of $$$ in campaign donations from labor unions your hands just may be tied.