The Shelby housing project near the Glen Annie Golf Club received majority support on Monday night from Goleta’s Planning Commission.

The project proposes building 56 homes, 11 of them designated as affordable housing units, at 7400 Cathedral Oaks Road after demolishing the single-family residence, garage and barn currently on site.

The commission voted 4-1 to recommend the City Council approve the project and also approve the environmental impact report and mitigation measures for impacts.  

“The project is not perfect, but it’s got some good attributes and I think we are really happy to have some additional housing and hopefully workforce housing for our city,” Commissioner Anne Miller said.

The project qualifies as a state density bonus law and builder’s remedy project, which limits city review to five or less meetings and limits city discretion over the project. 

The commission also recommended approval of the project’s vesting tentative map and development plan to create the proposed residential and open space lots. 

Regardless of the Planning Commission’s decision during Monday’s meeting, the project would still have moved to the Goleta City Council for consideration, according to the city staff report. 

Movement for the decades-old project proposal comes after delays and, most recently, a lawsuit in 2024.

The Shelby Family Partnership revised its development proposal using Senate Bill 330 to reduce the number of houses from 60 to 56 at a time when Goleta did not have a housing element. The city rejected the application, disagreeing with the applicant’s use of the senate bill, according to the staff report, prompting a lawsuit. 

Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Thomas Anderle later ruled in the applicant’s favor requiring the city to process the preliminary application.

A significant portion of the Planning Commission’s discussion revolved around unavoidable traffic impacts identified by the environmental impact report. The housing development would generate 477 average daily vehicle trips in the nearby area, according to the city staff report. 

Linda Prasse, Planning Manager with Goleta, said the traffic impact is “not surprising.”

Commissioner Rita Serotkin said traffic in that area is a “nightmare” especially when Dos Pueblos High School lets out. 

“Anyone who moves into that development is going to have to deal with (that nightmare),” she said.

Commissioner Cary Penniman shared similar traffic concerns and said local residents feel the same. He found the environmental impact report to be “deficient and uncertifiable.” 

“The traffic study doesn’t seem to really reflect what we are seeing there on a daily basis,” he said.

However, Ginger Andersen, senior land use project manager with Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, said the study was verified by Rincon Consulting, which prepared the environmental impact report, and by county Public Works staff.

“I do think this is the type of housing project we want in Goleta and that we are looking for,” Penniman said. “My only concern is with the content of the environmental impact report.”

He voted against recommending the project to the City Council.

Commission Chair Jennifer Fullerton agreed that the project area has substantial traffic issues but thinks the project shouldn’t be penalized, given the housing proposal for the Glen Annie Golf Club that could bring more traffic into the area.  

Residents also spoke during public comment and raised concerns about the traffic impacts in regards to potential fires in the area.

“Adding 56 more homes will increase the risk of existing homeowners in the area not being able to evacuate in the event of a wildfire,” resident Cynthia Hoffman said. 

The project proposes having two entrances into the development which Miller believes assuages some fear regarding evacuations.

“Coming from someone who lives in a neighborhood with only one access point in the high fire danger area, it’s very scary,” she said. 

Mark Lloyd, president of L & P Consultants who is representing the applicants, said the high fire risk is not unique to this project, but to the entire South Coast.

The Goleta City Council will make the final project decision at a later date.