Goleta Council Initiates General Plan Review

Santa Barbara Newsroom
By Tom Schultz
April 17, 2007

Faced with a growing list of suggestions for amending a key growth plan, the Goleta City Council late Monday chose to study numerous proposed revisions — and in doing so stoked a public debate that could last more than a year.

In two 4-1 votes, a council majority that took over in December agreed to analyze and consider a chunk of close to 200 total proposed changes to the city's first general plan, which was approved by a previous majority in October.

Faced with a growing list of suggestions for amending a key growth plan, the Goleta City Council late Monday chose to study numerous proposed revisions — and in doing so stoked a public debate that could last more than a year.

In two 4-1 votes, a council majority that took over in December agreed to analyze and consider a chunk of close to 200 total proposed changes to the city's first general plan, which was approved by a previous majority in October. This brings a series of workshops and hearings that could stretch into late 2008, officials said.

With the future look and function of the city in the balance, more proposals may be added to this review list in coming weeks. Some of the suggestions come from city staff members, others from residents and interests groups, or developers seeking more flexibility for specific projects.

The prospect of a major general plan overhaul drew an overflow crowd of more than 100 people to City Hall for a meeting cut short at 10 p.m. Some described the current plan, Goleta's first, as sufficient. Others appeared ready to send it to the paper shredder.

Approving the upcoming review "doesn't mean we, or I, support every single item," Councilman Roger Aceves said toward the end of the hearing. "There's a lot of stuff here that the public may or may not want, but we are not going to know until we start to talk about it."

At issue is how to build on some of the last remaining vacant lands in Goleta, or redevelop across the city of 30,000 residents.

Councilwoman Jonny Wallis, the only elected official left to vote for the original plan, opposed taking it in a vast new direction.

She said a majority of the proposals "make mush" of the original framework, suggesting Goleta would become a dumping ground for new construction.

On the other side were council members elected to office on a promise of change.

"The idea is these items may be able to move through," Counclman Eric Onnen said. "We are not adopting them at this point. We are further studying them. We made a committment to do that as expeditiously as we could."

Among a dozen items that could wind up on a "fast track" review -- a process that would not bring environmental impact reports, officials say -- the city will study amending the plan to allow for new regional commercial centers and eased setback rules for structures along coastal bluffs.

Other items approved for study that would likely go through an environmental impact analysis include the easing of wetland or other environmental standards to provide more flexibility in project design. Supporters of such moves say environmental protections can be maintained by offsetting habitat destruction with habitat creation elsewhere, while opponents say they fear the loss of valued open space.

Overall, its supporters largely see the current general plan as a tool for preserving Goleta as is while adding housing for workers along Hollister Avenue and other sites. Critics say internal inconsistencies, rigid language and unworkable strategies are key problems with the plan that threaten economic vitality and new home construction for the middle class.

Business leaders and affordable housing advocates supportive of a new direction have offered changes to the plan in testimony and writing.

Jennifer McGovern, coordinator of the Goleta Housing Leadership Council, urged change Monday in order to expand the housing market for middle income wage earners. She told the council that Goleta has seen no meaningful housing production in years.

"We have a critical shortage," she said. "We shouldn't have to wait."

On the other side, neighborhood preservationists increasingly guard against wholesale revisions.

Connie Hannah, representing the local League of Women Voters branch, said changes to the plan are not warranted.

She told the councilmembers they should expect a battle over "the ridiculous list of changes" they are considering.

"They totally change the quality of life. . . Your time in office will go much more smoothly if you don't take this radical approach, but try to work gradually with the whole community."

Councilmen Onnen, Aceves and Michael Bennett, all elected in November, have been generally supportive of a new direction for the general plan along with Mayor Jean Blois, a councilwoman since Goleta formed in 2002.

The looming recommendations include lowering affordable housing requirements at certain sites. Bacara Resort & Spa could find it easier to grow, and would-be developers of Bishop Ranch might have a shot at putting housing on fallow farmland along Highway 101 between Los Carneros and Glen Annie roads.

Hovering in the background are a series of lawsuits launched last fall against the city by landowners and business advocates who describe the original plan as legally flawed. Talk of settling these disputes still percolates among involved parties.

Whether changes might spark even more lawsuits is an open question.

A key and likely change could come to the housing policy.

In a March 19 letter to City Hall, the state Department of Housing and Community Development rejected for a third time the plan's important housing element, stating it "continues to require significant revisions to comply with state housing law.

"For example," according to the agency, "the element still does not adequately demonstrate the projected residential densities and build-out capacities on the identified sites (for new housing) can be realistically achieved."

While not stating so specifically, that passage was widely interpreted as targeting the plan's so-called "inclusionary" housing policy requiring that 55 percent of all units in new projects along sections of the Hollister Avenue corridor be affordable.

Builders and affordable housing advocates say that level of inclusion defies market forces, rendering project proposals financially infeasible. It appears as though the new council majority aims to decrease the level to around 25 percent.

Wallis appears ready to hold the line at 55 percent. It's a tool, she has said, to ensure Goleta gets the workforce housing it needs.

By law, a city or county can only amend its general plan once a quarter, or four times annually. In Goleta, the council may consider a raft of changes all at once, or perhaps groups of them in a series of decisions.