Bishop Ranch Pulls Application for Goleta General Plan Amendments

http://www.noozhawk.com/noozhawk/article/071108_bishop_ranch_pulls_application_for_goleta_general_plan_amendments/

By Sonia Fernandez, Noozhawk Staff Writer

The developer says a negative city report and a lack of support from officials make it 'pointless' to proceed, but the City Council still may consider the request.

The developer of Bishop Ranch on Friday withdrew his application to initiate Goleta General Plan amendments, potentially canceling a public hearing that was to take place Tuesday evening.

“It is very clear that while there is substantial support in the community to fully study and review the future of Bishop Ranch, that same support does not exist at the city (of Goleta), neither with the staff nor with the council,” said applicant Michael Keston, CEO of the Los Angeles-based Larwin Company, who thanked residents who supported the development plans for Bishop Ranch.

According to Ryan Minniear, a representative for The Bishop Ranch LLC, the company came to the conclusion, after reading the staff report that recommends denial of the company’s request to initiate the amendments, that going ahead with the request would have been a drain on the developer’s and the city’s time and resources.

“It seemed pointless to go forward,” he said.

Bishop Ranch, a 240-acre swath of undeveloped land just off the northbound Highway 101 exit at Storke/Glen Annie in Goleta is one of the South Coast’s last remaining large open spaces within urban boundaries. It was traditionally used for agriculture, but by the mid-20th century was zoned for commercial and residential uses, though it has reverted back to its agricultural designation.

The amendments that would have been proposed for initiation on Tuesday largely would have dealt with a rezone of the property from agricultural to mixed-use. The council at that time still may choose to take public testimony and consider initiation of the amendments, despite the applicant’s formal withdrawal of his application.

“The decision by a City Council of whether to initiate a General Plan amendment is within the discretion of the City Council as part of a legislative process,” Assistant City Attorney Brian Pierik said. “The council has the legal authority to decide whether to initiate a General Plan amendment based upon an application or upon council determination without an application.”

The land historically has been the subject of controversy in Goleta, from the old pioneer days to just recently, when the developer held a series of workshops in the community that resulted in a design that proposed upwards of 900 homes with a mix of prices and amenities. Minnear said the development plans have “tremendous support” from the community. 

Opponents, however, criticized the proposal for the increased traffic it would generate along its northern border at Cathedral Oaks Road, and the habitats it would damage as a result of development.

The company’s withdrawal of its request to initiate General Plan amendments may have put development plans on hold but have not canceled them.

Minnear said there could come a time in the near future when the traffic along Goleta’s main thoroughfare, Hollister Avenue, becomes so bad because of decisions to locate higher-density housing there that Bishop Ranch and its plan for relatively lower densities becomes a more attractive option when the state-mandated housing quota is handed down again in 2013.

“We’re going to wait until the public comes to us and says, ‘It’s time for you guys to do something here so we don’t have to ruin the character of our community,’ ” Minnear said. “If we need to sit another decade, we’ll sit another decade.”

Noozhawk staff writer Sonia Fernandez can be reached at sfernandez@noozhawk.com.

http://www.noozhawk.com/noozhawk/article/071108_bishop_ranch_pulls_application_for_goleta_general_plan_amendments/