Amid an applicant’s accusations of nitpicking, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors reversed a staff ruling and deemed as complete an application for an Orcutt mixed-use project known as Richards Ranch.
The unanimous vote to uphold the appeal by the developer Tuesday meant the county protects the project’s Builder’s Remedy status. The state implemented Builder’s Remedy to push cities and counties into updating planning documents and adding affordable housing.
Developer Michael Stoltey submitted an application for the Richards Ranch project under Builder’s Remedy. The action Tuesday centers on a procedural matter for the project proposed for 44 acres along Union Valley Parkway east of Highway 135.
Along with 750 multifamily units, the applicant plans commercial development, including a car wash and a mini-storage facility. About 20%, or 150 units, would be designated as affordable housing.
“I’m going to actually surprise some people, and I’m actually going to uphold the appeal,” Fourth District Supervisor Bob Nelson said. “If this is a tool that the developer can use to eventually get a project here, so be it.”
“Oh. Interesting,” chair Laura Capps said.
Nelson added that he has worked to get the best project possible for his constituents.
The applicant’s land-use attorney, Beth Collins with Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, argued that county staff improperly deemed the application incomplete and challenged attempts to remove the Builder’s Remedy protections.
The county alleged that the applicant changed the square footage for part of the project and failed to submit some traffic-related items. However, Collins called those small discrepancies not normally highlighted by staff so early in the process.
“You’re supposed to give the fullest possible weight in the interest and approval of the provision of housing. That’s what state law says. This type of nitpicking is not that,” Collins said. “It looks like bad faith.”
Another dispute centered on a deadline the applicant says the county missed since the latest version was submitted on a holiday. County staff disagreed.
Collins added that denying the appeal would leave the county vulnerable to a lawsuit.
Accusations of unfair treatment led supervisors and top county staff to reject accusations of sabotage or unfair treatment for Richards Ranch.
Formal consideration of the development would occur in the future with hearings before the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors, if the applicant decided to move forward with the Builder’s Remedy project.
It isn’t the only route Stoltey is pursuing to get something built on the location labeled Key Site 26 in the Orcutt Community Plan.
Richards Ranch has a similar proposal making its way through the City of Santa Maria process, with approximately 400 apartments, 100 townhomes and assorted businesses. That proposal, however, would require annexation of the land into the city, a potentially big hurdle.
An application for annexation has been submitted and could be considered by the Santa Barbara County Local Agency Formation Commission in the coming months.
“The reality is this is the most problematic, challenging piece of property probably in North County. Walmart walked away from it because they decided it wasn’t worth the headache and they didn’t really see a path forward,” Fifth District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino said.
Walmart owned the land for nearly two decades, but Santa Maria’s long-standing policy prohibited selling excess water for commercial development in Orcutt, the big-box retailer discovered.
The City of Santa Maria has agreed to provide water for the project, which would clear the big hurdle that hindered Walmart’s development of the land. But the water agreement is contingent upon the land being annexed into the city, according to project representatives.