The Santa Barbara County Planning Commission on Wednesday was faced with a difficult situation while reviewing a project with which the commission, and the community, had issues. However, because of state law, it was unable to deny the project or make major changes.

While reviewing a proposed three-story housing project for 6737 Sueno Road in Isla Vista, commission chair Laura Bridley asked the agent representing the developer if they would willingly go to the Santa Barbara County Board of Architectural Review for additional design feedback.

Lonnie Roy, the agent for developer Ed St. George, agreed to the commission’s request to go to the Board of Architectural Review, which it was originally able to skip because the project meets the conditions of the Housing Accountability Act and State Density Bonus Law. 

Bridley said she lost sleep over the project.

“This is a very difficult case for me to approve,” Bridley said. “Do I want housing in Isla Vista? Yes, I do, but this project, I’m not really keen on it, but I’m being told I have no choice and we have to approve it.”

Because the project meets the conditions of the Housing Accountability Act and State Density Bonus Law, the Planning Commission can’t deny the project or lower density unless it was found to have an adverse impact on public health and safety and that there’s no way to mitigate that impact, according to the county staff report. 

The project calls for three three-story buildings with a total of 16 units, 48 bedrooms and 24 parking spaces. It would include two affordable units for very-low-income individuals under State Density Bonus Law, two moderate-income units and 12 market-rate units. 

The property currently has only a single-family home and detached garage.

Neighbors say they’re worried that the project could bring in at least 96 residents, making on-street parking even more congested, and that the project would clash with the surrounding neighborhood. 

The area around the proposed project consists of mostly single-family residential homes or two-story residential buildings. Roy said that when they considered neighborhood compatibility, they considered the compatibility with Isla Vista as a whole, not the specific block.

Pegeen Soutar, who has lived in Isla Vista for 40 years and served on the Isla Vista Recreation & Park District Board of Directors for 20 years, said she is worried about having a large project in an already heavily impacted area, especially with more projects on the way. 

“I understand the state is trying to provide housing, workforce housing, student housing, housing for the elderly,” Soutar said. “All of that is important, but Isla Vista already has so many issues with the density, and what’s being proposed is just one of many proposals happening in Isla Vista.”

Soutar said she’s also concerned about the impact the project would have on on-street parking, which is already extremely congested.

“It will really change the life of the people that live around that neighborhood,” Soutar told Noozhawk. “A lot of students in that neighborhood go to City College, and a lot of my neighbors work. When they come back from work or City College, they will have an even more difficult time finding parking.”

During public comment, Julia Barbosa told the commission that she was concerned the project would only worsen safety conditions. 

“Adding three three-story buildings at 6737 Sueno Road will not only be aesthetically oppressive and out of character for the immediate neighborhood, but it will add a large number of cars to an already desperate situation on the streets of Isla Vista,” Barbosa said. “Isla Vista simply does not have the infrastructure, not to mention law enforcement, to support this level of growth at this juncture.”

During deliberations, Bridley said she and the rest of the commission rely on the feedback from the Board of Architectural Review, and she wanted it to review the project to allow for more public review.

“I’m not impressed with the architecture. I think it’s institutional and ugly, and I wish it could have been more creative, but if you get some feedback from SBAR and if they think it’s fine for the setting you’re in, then I would defer to them,” Bridley said. 

Commissioner John Parke said he also had a hard time reconciling with the project, believing that it would have harmful impacts on the community’s health and safety. 

“I do know from just parking there, even just recently, that it’s very hard to find parking spaces,” Parke said. “People park all over, and it’s very tricky looking for pedestrians and bicyclists and skateboarders who are all over Isla Vista when you got these cars all over. That’s why I think it affects the public safety.”

The project is set to go to the county Board of Architectural Review on March 21 and return to the Planning Commission on April 2.

It represents just the beginning of major residential housing projects for Isla Vista. 

Travis Seawards, deputy director of the county’s Development Review Division, said there are six proposed Builder’s Remedy projects for Isla Vista that would add a total of 134 new units. 

A project at 6587 Cervantes Road with 27 units is set to be reviewed by the Planning Commission on March 26. No other projects are close to having a hearing at this time, according to Seawards.