The North County Board of Architectural Review got its first, but certainly not its last, look at pieces of a brand-new community proposed to include housing, commercial buildings, public safety facilities, parks and more south of Orcutt.

The panel reviewed the Solomon Hills Project proposal Friday in Santa Maria, looking at drafts of the specific plan, development plan and other features as Solstra Communities California LLC seeks to build 4,000 homes on the land about 2 miles south of Clark Avenue.

Solstra owns 4,195 acres between Orcutt and Los Alamos, but the specific plan would span 1,616 acres, or an area 1 mile by 2 miles. The new community would sit between highways 101 and 135.

“From the overview that we’ve seen it is a monumental project,” NBAR Chair Michael C. Maglinte said. “I mean…you’ve indicated this is a 14- to 20-year buildout basically.”

“I think given the scope, this is a generational project,” said Michael Nicola, NBAR member, adding the panel’s members should be viewed as a resource, not a roadblock.

“People have different areas of expertise that I think can be helpful, and I do agree this is a pretty good starting point,” Nicola added before sighing. “Bless you, this is a lot of work.”

The specific plan provides an overall blueprint establishing zoning areas and features of the new development. In the future, individual planning areas, such as those proposing 60 to 80 homes apiece, would return for review as separate applications for final approval.

“This project will be in review for a long time,” said Jay Higgins, Solomon Hills land-use agent and consultant.  

In discussions with community members, Solomon Hills leaders said they realized the design should be flexible, leading to the 85 planning areas for residential and commercial areas.

“That was the other thing we heard loud and clear: ‘If you’re going to build a big community, don’t build Orange County. We don’t want that here,'” Peter Kiesecker, director of operations for Solomon Hills, said.

Proposed residences would include both single-family and multi-family homes of varying sizes.

“The vision for the project is to create a sustainable community designed around smart growth principles and open space preservation,” said Matt Ottoson, land use planner from RRM Design Group. 

The main village would have shops, restaurants, offices, a day care facility and more. 

“The design of the community started with the concepts of sustainability and connectivity by focusing on walkability, biking and reduced vehicle dependence,” Ottoson said. 

A welcome center to serve as the sales office eventually would become a transit center and park-and-ride facility.

Access would include a new interchange on Highway 101 plus the existing Solomon summit access. Another connection would occur off Highway 135 near San Antonio Road. 

“A central focus of the overall site development was to cluster development, to minimize impacts along Highway 101 and to preserve open space,” Ottoson said, adding 90% of the community would not be visible from Highway 101.

The design called for tiered pads and enhanced view opportunities for the various housing types making up the main village. 

The proposal includes 99 acres of parks, including a major makeover for the Newlove Picnic Grounds. 

Another 500 acres will be permanently preserved in a conservation easement for various species including the California tiger salamander and oak tree management. 

The 65 existing oil wells, 33 of which are active, will be formally abandoned and remediated. Plans intentionally placed the wells within future roads and open space areas. 

Boards of architectural review look at building designs and other details with an eye toward ensuring a proposed project’s exterior building materials, colors, rooflines, and site plans fit the community.

On Friday NBAR members asked about various landscaping plans including types of trees and other vegetation, at one point wanting to ensure they didn’t plan to use palm trees.

In the afternoon, NBAR members offered up suggestions on the development’s proposed 9.4-acre recycled water storage basin. The basin will provide 39.5 acre-feet of recycled water storage during periods of wet weather. 

It also would include a 1,330-square-foot pump station, pipelines, and an intake system, with the basin surrounded by a 6-foot-tall wrought iron fence and landscaping along the eastern side to screen views of the project from Highway 101. 

The panel also reviewed plans for improvements to the existing Newlove Picnic Grounds  including removal of the old restrooms and installation of a 1,320-square-foot restroom building. 

The development recently received a letter of intent that could lead to ultimately purchasing a significant amount of State Water Project allocation from a Montecito district.

Solomon Hills could return to the NBAR as soon as Nov. 20 for another review by the panel, County Supervising Planner Shannon Reese said.

Preparation of a draft environmental impact report for the Solomon Hills proposal is underway and, once completed, will be circulated for comments. The application eventually will head to the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission, but officials could not estimate when that might happen.