Nine people have filed four appeals against the Carpinteria Planning Commission’s Oct. 5 approval of the Surfliner Inn project.

The City Council is expected to consider the appeals at a special council meeting set for 5:30 p.m. Nov. 30.

The appeals were filed by Rosa Markolf, Susan Bredhoff and Terry Wheeler Scrivner; Alan and Carol Koch; Kirk Connally and Marla Daily; and Stephen and Eileen Marcussen.

The Surfliner Inn project includes a two-story, 36-room inn with a rooftop bar and 46 public parking spaces at 499 Linden Ave. A city-owned parking lot is currently on that site. It is on the mountain of the railroad tracks.

The project also includes a new, 95-space public parking lot at 399 Linden Ave. on the oceanside of the tracks. As approved by the commission, the entrance for that parking lot would be on Linden Avenue and the exit on Elm Avenue.

An interim trail currently sits on the site.

All parking spots would remain open for public use.

In the appeals filed with the city, the nine Carpinteria residents expressed concern over noise, traffic and pedestrian safety.

Many comments focused on the commission’s approval of Parking Lot #4. Initially, plans for that lot had two-way traffic, with both the entrance and exit on Linden Avenue.

Updated plans include one-way traffic, with an entrance on Linden and an exit onto Elm Avenue, to avoid any congestion near the railroad tracks.

Opponents have argued that putting outbound traffic onto what is now a dead-end street would cause issues for the Beach Neighborhood.

Markholf, Bredhoff and Scrivner‘s appeal laid out concerns about proposed Parking Lot #4 and one-way traffic.

Markholf suggested moving the community garden, which is currently located next to Parking Lot #3, onto the other side of the railroad tracks. Parking could instead go where the garden currently is, she wrote.

(The project developers had initially considered moving the community garden, but they pivoted away from those plans after heavy community concerns, the Coastal View News previously reported.)

Scrivner also suggested working with Union Pacific Railroad to construct another crossing between the Beach Neighborhood and Carpinteria’s downtown area.

The Kochs accused the staff report of not being complete in “accord with the purposes of the General Plan” and alleged there was a lack of “factual findings” during the commission’s deliberations.

They also suggested that the community garden be moved across the tracks instead of building Parking Lot #4.

According to their appeal, Connally and Daily own two of the three residences directly adjacent to the proposed Parking Lot #4.

They described one of those residences as the Beach Neighborhood’s “only affordable housing” that is occupied by low- and moderate-income workforce families.

The proposed Parking Lot #4 would have “severe and disparate” impacts on that multi-family residence because of the one-way traffic, they allege.

They also accuse the city of failing to “adequately analyze impacts” of the project and said the commission’s “findings, statements and conclusions are not supported by substantial evidence in the administrative record.”

Daily previously operated UPPO’s Garden on a portion of 399 Linden Ave., the Coastal View News reported.

She initially leased the land from Union Pacific. The city put her on a month-to-month lease in 2013, after it bought the land; the council voted to end the lease to build an interim trail on that lot in 2022.

The Marcussens wrote in their appeal that they believe the community garden should be relocated to avoid impacts on the Beach Neighborhood.

They also allege that putting one-way parking in Parking Lot #4 would create “foreseeable conflicts involving pedestrians, vehicles, noise, exhaust emissions, nighttime activity and neighborhood compatibility.”

The pair are separately suing the city and Island Brewing Co. over the brewery’s live music.

They have argued that the brewery has violated noise regulations and that the city has not enforced those regulations. That case is due back in court on Dec. 18.

The meeting to consider the appeals will take place at the City Council chambers at City Hall, 5775 Carpinteria Ave.

The appeal hearing agenda will be available online by Nov. 25.