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Goleta Gets a Look at Westar Proposal Near Camino Real Marketplace
The Goleta Planning Commission on Monday took a conceptual look at plans for a potential mixed-use project in western Goleta.
The Westar Associates project involves a 23.5-acre property north of Hollister Avenue across the street from Camino Real Marketplace. Current plans for the mostly vacant lot include approximately 88,500 square feet of commercial development on the 8.5 acres closest to Hollister, and about 300 apartments on the northern 15 acres.
“One thing about this project is the walkability,” developer Peter Koetting said during his presentation to the commission. Initial plans for the commercial area include a grocery store, pharmacy, restaurants and other retail outlets. For the residential development, the proposal calls for 102 one-bedroom apartments and 198 two-bedroom units housed in two- and three-story buildings.
Even at this very early stage in the project process, neighbors were on hand to weigh in. Leslie Lund, a resident of the development on the property’s eastern boundary, commented that the project might generate too much noise and activity on nearby Glen Annie Road.
“Am I going to have headlights shining into my living room?” she asked. Other concerns that she and her neighbors aired dealt with noise and parking.
Among the other things the applicants and city planners and designers must tackle will be the cumulative traffic impacts generated by this project and others close to the Hollister/Storke Road intersection, already one of the busiest in the city. Other projects in the area include the recently approved Rincon Palms hotel and Cabrillo Business Park.
Another issue will be the view corridor from Hollister to the Santa Ynez Mountains, and the appropriate height of the buildings.
“This is a gorgeous piece of property,” said Commissioner Jonny Wallis, who added that she had concerns about the potential overbuilding of the site.
Gary Coombs, director of the South Coast Railroad Museum, meanwhile, brought up the history of a railroad cut on the site, a remnant of the late 1800s railroad technology that brought the Southern Pacific Railroad through the Goleta Valley.
“It would be my hope that this historic cut be preserved,” Coombs said of the section of land where railroad engineers cut into the ground to lay track.
The project has not yet been through the design review process; a change in the way Goleta handles proposals for new projects has the Planning Commission in on the earliest stages to comment on proposals in an advisory manner only. The project has yet to be seen by the Goleta Design Review Board before returning to the Planning Commission for approvals.
— Noozhawk staff writer Sonia Fernandez can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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» on 04.14.09 @ 05:38 AM
Do we really need more development? How about farming the property? More cars, more people, more congestion. Those apartments are going to be all students and with 300 apartments you can expect close to a thousand people, each with a car going in and out of that area all day and all night long. This place is looking more and more like Los Angeles. In fact you could pick up a section of Goleta and set it down in west L.A. and never notice the difference. Why does anyone want to be like L.A.?
» on 04.14.09 @ 06:22 AM
No Target, no walking bridge over the highway, not nearly enough open space…there is nothing I like about this proposal. Another market and pharmacy? The Rite Aid across the street just shut down. Why would you want to put more pressure on Albertsons? How about something the city can use.
» on 04.14.09 @ 07:12 AM
The traffic mitigations alone will kill this project. The city does not want the sales dollars bad enough.
» on 04.14.09 @ 08:02 AM
What’s with all the housing right next to the railroad tracks?
Nobody is going to live there!
This greedy developer is an idiot.
» on 04.14.09 @ 09:03 AM
“...the proposal calls for 102 one-bedroom apartments and 198 two-bedroom units housed in two- and three-story buildings.”
Yuck. Who wants to live in an apartment building with people on top and either side? I think these are going to become either student- or low-income housing almost immediately.
» on 04.14.09 @ 09:55 AM
What’s wrong with 46 half acre lots with single story homes? Hollister is already overloaded. What about the rights of the large community that is already established here. COG is ruining this area. This is not what we voted for. Affordable housing is available and UCSB is still on a roll to choke up the area as it is. Look what they’ve done to El Colegio…
» on 04.14.09 @ 10:01 AM
I’m willing to bet the developer is from LA! Well, certainly has a “LA state of mind.” High density multi-story buildings, people living on top of each other and getting annoyed at each other—just like LA!
» on 04.14.09 @ 10:04 AM
I’m willing to bet the developer is from LA! Well, certainly has a “LA state of mind.” High density multi-story buildings, people living on top of each other and getting annoyed at each other—just like LA!
» on 04.14.09 @ 10:56 AM
It’s still very early and I’m sure this plan with change numerous times before anything gets approved. At 25k feet he grocer would likely be a boutique type/whole foods type grocer. The city needs more affordable housing so the plan could have legs.
» on 04.14.09 @ 11:49 AM
I live ‘next to the railroad’ next door at Willow Springs in Goleta and it is beautiful. We need more housing—affordable and workforce—it will keep other rents down with more inventory.
The suggestion to ‘farm the property’ is ridiculous—sure just sell the land (of unknown fertility) to a farmer who needs millions of dollars in farm equipment and lots of money to subsidize it!
» on 04.14.09 @ 12:41 PM
It’s true about the railroad cut - there is a book documenting the history of the railroad that once meandered through there ending at Depot Road? Ellwood Station Road? Something like that. I hope Mr. Coombs proposes something appropriate for the railroad cut. Perhaps the developer could be talked into laying some track there and pulling in a historical railroad car or something with a historical exhibit as condition for the development? It would help preserve some community historical interest.
» on 04.14.09 @ 01:05 PM
Here it is from Mr. Coombs’ book Goleta Depot:
“In a dramatic arch, curving North and then South,, along what was later to become Tuolume Drive and Ellwood Station Road, the rails ended at Ellwood, where a turntable and another station building were situated.”
“Another interesting section of the old route can be viewed about one block west of the Storke Road overpass, between Hollister Avenue and US 101. The meandering cut is located directly west of the Southern California Edison Co.‘s facility on Glen Annie Road.”
Thank you Mr. Coombs for documenting this piece of history that could easily be lost forever.
» on 04.14.09 @ 03:43 PM
This project is just another example of high density smart growth.
Just imagine the noise on the second and third stories!
INSTANT SLUMS. INSTANT CRIME!
Smart growth is an oxymoron!
It’s time to just say No to these greedy developers and stupid smart growth advocates.
» on 04.14.09 @ 04:49 PM
Oh golly, just what we need—more junky development designed to make developer rich so he can live in Montecito while the poor fools left behind in Goleta’s ruined Valley sweat in traffic….. Thank God it’s so ‘walkable.’
» on 04.14.09 @ 07:19 PM
Here it is from Mr. Coombs’ book Goleta Depot:
“In a dramatic arch, curving North and then South,, along what was later to become Tuolume Drive and Ellwood Station Road, the rails ended at Ellwood, where a turntable and another station building were situated.”
“Another interesting section of the old route can be viewed about one block west of the Storke Road overpass, between Hollister Avenue and US 101. The meandering cut is located directly west of the Southern California Edison Co.‘s facility on Glen Annie Road.”
Thank you Mr. Coombs for documenting this piece of history that could easily be lost forever.
» on 04.14.09 @ 07:45 PM
OH-MY-GOD!
What a pile of crap this project is!
I just can’t believe it.
It’s time for us to stand up, as one voice, and just scream NO!
NO! NO ! NO! NO! NO!
We’ve had enough and were not going to take it any more!
» on 04.15.09 @ 12:41 AM
Who is going to afford these rents. By the time Koetting makes his profit off this parcel and sells to the next owner,(oh, did you think Koetting was going to keep it) the rents will be hugh. They’ll have to jack up the rent so that they in turn can make a profit. Big Business can’t operate in Santa Barbara/Goleta because of the high rents. What mom and pop business do you think can afford these new stores? Who will be able to afford these appartments? In the meantime we’ll be the ones looking at this big eye sore.
» on 04.15.09 @ 04:54 AM
Families sharing homes are more annoying than apartment living where one can shut the front door and maintain personal privacy. Wake up to the realities of life.
» on 04.15.09 @ 09:31 AM
Can somebody tell me the name is the architect of this piece of crap right next to the railroad tracks?
» on 04.15.09 @ 09:35 AM
Just what we need. Higher density, more traffic, more crime, more noise, more air pollution.
Who comes up with this crap?
» on 04.15.09 @ 12:42 PM
Let the developer build the project. We need more regional centers so that we can stop commuting on the weekends to Ventura County to shop.
If you want more open space, go hiking in the thousands of acres of forest land in our backyards. The State mandates additional units. If you don’t like development, move to Wyoming. Stop complaining.
» on 04.15.09 @ 03:17 PM
Does Goleta Water know something that we dont ? We are running out of water folks . Swartzenegger has already declared a water emergency in our state . News must travel slowly in the Goodland .
» on 04.16.09 @ 04:25 AM
The underlying force driving this dense development is population growth. In the U.S., virtually all population growth is due to immigration and births to immigrants. We let in 1.5 million legal immigrants alone each year on work visas, even though unemployment is 10.5% in California. Of course Obama has stopped all internal immigration enforcement. Think harder about who you vote for, and consider joining Numbersusa or CAPS.
» on 04.16.09 @ 10:52 AM
Are the Willows all fully occupied already? Their ads don’t indicate that. And what about Sumida Gardens—also “off Hollister and Patterson” (between Hollister and railroad tracks).....just leasing now. And what about those new condo units in downtown Goleta behind the new Hampton Inn—all sold out already? Yes, vacant units for sale or for rent MAY keep costs and property values down but not much. How about any new developments having to give “preference points” to those who can prove long-term residency here and prove they work here to keep traffic impacts at a minimum? As for shopping in Ventura County—it is because they have choices which we don’t have. We now have Tiffany’s and Coach, etc. when we need Target.
» on 04.16.09 @ 02:02 PM
Since Sears and Kmart are owned by the same company, consolidate them into a big superstore at the Kmart location. There’s plenty of parking.
Then close the Sears at La Cumbre Plaza and open a Target. Again, there’s plenty of parking.
And a Target would bring back the customers that La Cumbre Plaza has lost trying to go upscale.
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