The Goleta Design Review Board will take yet another look on Tuesday at the Marriott Residence Inn project proposed for 6300 Hollister Ave. With some major changes, the project may make it through this time.

The extended-stay hotel project, which has been making the rounds at the city’s planning desk, has been in something of a tug-of-war between the board and the Orange County-based applicant, R.D. Olson Construction, for issues relating to the size of the building and its potential for blocking the scenic mountain views from Hollister Avenue.

The mountain views from Hollister are considered a visual resource in the city’s General Plan. During the last few DRB reviews, the development team has been sent back to the drawing board to attempt to fix that issue. Another version of the project, at 140 rooms, made it through the city’s planning process in 2009, only to be withdrawn because of a lawsuit challenging the environmental documents related to it.

Meanwhile, the project’s proponents have maintained that to keep the hotel feasible, with its larger suites, the room count had to hover around 133 just to break even. Local land costs, including additional work needed to preserve the site’s archaeological resources, have resulted in what project supporters say is a relatively more costly plan.

This version of the project, however, has taken the room count to 118, about 15 rooms fewer than what was claimed as the break-even point for the hotel. Correspondingly, the decrease in room count also brings the proposed hotel under the 50 percent footprint cap required by the city, which also was a somewhat contentious point between the DRB and the project’s proponents.

Steve Fedde, a representative for Sares-Regis Group, which owns the land, said the decrease in room size was made through a renegotiation of the lease with Robert Olsen.

“All parties had to reduce their expectations to make the project work,” he said, adding that the economics of the project necessitated the change in lease terms.

If the project makes it through the Design Review Board, it will still need to go through several other layers of approval, including the Goleta Planning Commission.

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