The Stow Grove Park caretaker cottage may be in its final days.
On Tuesday the Goleta City Council will vote on if the cottage should be demolished as part of planned renovations to the 100-year-old park.
The council also will vote on placing a prefabricated restroom within an environmentally sensitive habitat area (ESHA) buffer zone.
The cottage has been at the park since the mid-1960s, but a caretaker hasn’t lived there since 2016 and it has since fallen into disrepair and doesn’t meet accessibility requirements.
The city now manages the park through a combination of contracted services and city staff.
However, at a February Parks and Recreation Commission meeting, neighbors said they missed having a caretaker keeping an eye on the property, closing the gate at night, and that not having a caretaker put a burden on the community to report disturbances happening in the park.
One resident even suggested replacing the cottage with a prefabricated structure for a caretaker.
At the time city staff said repairing the cottage or replacing it with a prefabricated structure would cost more than $500,000. Demolishing the structure is estimated to cost $40,000 to $60,000.
Earlier this summer the city had Rincon Consultants, Inc. conduct a historical evaluation that determined that while the house is more than 50 years old, the architectural style is not unique and has no historical significance, according to the city staff report.
The city also wants to add a new accessible restroom near the planned universal playground at the park. Current plans have the restroom located in front of the view of the redwood grove.
At a public workshop in December, residents preferred having the restroom in the ESHA buffer to not block the view of the redwoods. The buffer is 100 feet from eucalyptus trees that line La Patera Drive, according to the city staff report.
To keep impacts to a minimum, the city wants to put a premade restroom in the ESHA buffer, that way remaining construction would be inside the restroom.
Park renovations and playground construction are expected to begin in early 2026.
The council will discuss the restroom and caretaker cottage at the regular City Council meeting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at 130 Cremona Drive.
The public can make comments in person at the meeting, via Zoom, or send a letter to cityclerkgroup@cityofgoleta.org.