Planning Commissioners enthusiastically approved a Los Alamos housing project this week that plans to build 67 detached single-family homes and attached townhomes.

The project will have 69 total homes including the two existing homes on the property, which is located at 477 Price Canyon Road north of Highway 101. 

The Santa Barbara County review board heard presentations from staff and the applicant team, Los Alamos Investments LLC, at Wednesday’s meeting before unanimously approving the project. 

The development gets a density bonus due to state law, meaning the owner can build 69 homes rather than 46 because there will be seven very-low-income designated units. The homes are all going to be rentals, but the non-deed-restricted homes could become for-sale units in the future.

“It seems to have a great sense of community and open spaces that are almost always lacking in this county,” Commission Chair Roy Reed said.

“People and kids need places to learn how to grow things,” he said, referring to the project’s community gardens. 

He said the project could be a model for others in the county. 

“I think your design fits Los Alamos just perfectly,” Commissioner John Parke said. 

The community has low-end and high-end housing, and this project could add some of that “missing middle” housing, Parke said. 

Commissioner Kate Ford said she loves the project, including its design and amenities for residents like a swimming pool and spa, play areas, fire pits, barbecue areas and bicycle parking. 

Property owner Tyler Rameson said he is excited and proud of the project as a “local kid” who grew up not too far from the project site. He moved across the country for graduate school, realizing he could not afford to keep living here, he told the commissioners.

He worked on Wall Street for many years and then moved back and started a family. 

“I started a business when I moved back and realized how hard it was to get young people to come to work in Santa Barbara,” because of high housing costs, he said.

He wanted to help provide more housing in the community and purchased the Los Alamos property.

“I just hope you like the project as much as I do and that we can do our part so that the next generation doesn’t have to move halfway across the country to afford to live here,” he said. 

The commission’s approvals included subdividing 29.66 acres into 69 residential lots and determining the impacts are within the scope of the Housing Element Update’s programmatic environmental review. 

Some parts of the property will stay open space and undeveloped under the project proposal. 

Some neighbors oppose the project because of its size, such as Los Alamos resident Neil Goodman, who told commissioners that it was “way too thick for the amount of space allocated.” 

In a comment letter, he raised concerns about traffic impacts to Price Ranch Road, which has Highway 101 ramps nearby, and the amount of parking provided.

He also asked for a community forum about the project. 

There are significant, unavoidable traffic impacts from this development, so commissioners had to approve a statement of overriding considerations in addition to the other project approvals. 

Commissioner Vincent Martinez said he thought 1.75 parking spaces per home wasn’t enough, even though it is more than the required amount. The development also has some guest parking on site. 

For neighbors, “I realize it’s going to be hard to give up essentially a large open space you’ve enjoyed,” Reed said. “But like the rest of California and the rest of the county, we’re subject to change.” 

He agreed with Goodman on the benefit of having a community forum and suggested developers coordinate an informational event.