Goleta to Weigh Large Business Park Proposal

Santa Barbara Newsroom
By Tom Schultz
April 28, 2007

The Goleta City Council on Monday will consider a proposal to add 12 buildings to a business park that sits on 92 acres in the heart of the city.

Sares Regis Group hopes to greatly expand its Cabrillo Business Park at 6767 Hollister Avenue and Los Carneros Road, a property formerly home to Delco, which decades ago was a major regional employer.

At 956,000 total square feet, it would be the largest such park in Santa Barbara County.

Years in the making, the project if approved would bring new jobs and millions of dollars in new tax revenue to the city, along with enhanced wetlands, roadway improvements along Los Carneros and public access to onsite recreation areas, according to Goleta Planning Director Steve Chase.

It would also eat up existing open space — in particular, an area used to test the Lunar Rover during the Apollo space race. Delco was a big Cold War employer, an anchor of the research and development defense industry that helped build suburban Goleta.

"I think it's a good project," Mayor Jean Blois said Friday, adding that plans to unfold the project in nine phases of construction over a decade were a key component.

"It's better than having it all at once," she said, describing a phased approach as less disruptive to the city while allowing plenty of time to build up the necessary infrastructure to support the project.

Originally submitted to Santa Barbara County before Goleta incorporated in early 2002, plans for the project languished as the city got its footing — a process that continues as Goleta works on its first general plan for growth. The project complies with the plan as currently written.

While detractors wonder if the proposal is too massive for Goleta and threatens to negatively impact traffic congestion, backers say it will help strengthen the local economy.

The property is currently developed with two screened storage areas and nine buildings utilized for a variety of functions including research and development, office, manufacturing and industrial activities totaling 326,490 square feet, according to a city report.

These buildings are located on approximately 20 acres of the site’s northwest corner and approximately 10 acres of the site’s southeast corner. They range in size from approximately 4,000 square feet to 113,330 square feet, officials say.

The project would retain seven of nine existing buildings and screened storage areas on the property, remove two buildings, and build 12 new structures. The two buildings to be removed — the Flight Physics Control Building, and the Flight Physics Range Building — total 84,808 square feet. The buildings that would be retained, dating from the 1950s and 1960s and subject to varying degrees of remodeling, total 241,682 square feet, according to the city.

Proposed new structures would total approximately 714,600 square feet, including 540,000 square feet of office and research and development uses, and 174,600 square feet of self-storage. Approximately 10,000 square feet would be used for on-site services such as a coffee shop, delicatessen, ATM or cleaners.

"The proposed architecture may be characterized as contemporary international, emphasizing rectilinear building shapes with strong horizontal lines," Mr. Chase wrote in a recent report. "Proposed one-story buildings would have a maximum height of 20 feet, and the two-story buildings would have a maximum height of 35 feet. Mechanical screening would extend 3 feet above the structures and would be designed to obscure equipment including air conditioners, heaters, and other ventilation from view. Maximum building heights would be 35 feet to the top of screen, and 32 feet to top of the structure."

Vehicles would access the site via three spots on Hollister Avenue and two driveways on Los Carneros Road.

A bike path would cut through the site and bicycle racks would be located at each building location. In addition, bicycle lockers and shower facilities would be included. Upgrade and relocation of a bus stop along Hollister Avenue and installation of two bus stops on Los Carneros Road are also proposed.

Parking would include 1,054 existing spaces and 1,163 new spaces for a project total of 2,217 parking spaces.