After hearing an update on the latest version of a long-talked-about housing project west of the city, Lompoc City Council members instructed staff to explore alternatives for the Bailey Meadows annexation with a suggestion to get “creative.”

During Tuesday night’s council meeting, members heard an update on the efforts to build along Bailey Avenue on what’s considered prime ag land, and noted past differences with the county in trying to expand the city’s borders.

The advent of relaxed housing laws led to the submittal of an application to the Santa Barbara County Planning and Development Department for the newest iteration dubbed Bodger Meadows. 

The project would have 200 single-family homes and 140 apartment units with the application submitted about two years ago.  The current application covers approximately 50 acres between Ocean Avenue, V Street and Olive Avenue.

Lompoc staff and the applicant presented an update on the proposal, which has been at the heart of multiple debates pitting the need for more housing against the need to protect prime ag land. 

Mayor Jim Mosby called for staff to explore alternatives and “maybe be a little creative” to get the housing developed and the land annexed into the city. 

“We know we need the housing, and we need to get it done,” Mosby said. 

The latest application to develop the land follows other efforts involving multiple attempts with various versions spanning more than 10 years.

“One of the big stumbling blocks for the project in the past has been the conversion of agricultural lands,” said Ginger Andersen, senior land use project manager for Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber and Schreck.

In the two years since the Builder’s Remedy application’s submittal, county planning staff have reviewed the documents and could be nearing declaring the request complete. 

That declaration would lead to the start of the environmental review, with the report expected to take one year to complete. 

Andersen, representing landowner Jack Bodger and developer Granite Peak Partners, said the project has been “a long-time coming. 

“This time around I think it’s fair to say we needed to take a different tack,” Andersen said. “Hopefully the different approach will result in a win-win for the city and the county.” 

They hope to benefit from various state laws designed to foster housing development including density bonuses or the chance to install more units than typically allowed.

The applicant proposed housing units ranging from 2,200 square feet to 3,100 square feet on lot sizes spanning from 6,750 to 8,300 square feet. The single-family homes would include one- and two-story options plus four- to five-bedroom homes.

The multifamily housing, some designated as affordable housing, would include four buildings, each 39 feet high with 35 units each and more than 300 parking spaces. 

Units would include studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom options. 

An annexation also would require preparing an environmental impact report, but the developer’s representative said an all-in-one document would be produced to avoid having to complete two. 

“That’s not fair to anyone,” Andersen said. “The idea is that the document that is prepared covers the development and the annexation at the same time.”

Councilmember Steve Bridge was emphatic the land should be annexed into the city, adding he doesn’t trust LAFCO (the Santa Barbara County Local Agency Formation Commission) or county. 

“The reason we didn’t get the LAFCO approval is because the implication was we would not be good stewards of the land,” Bridge said. “And now we are here doing exactly what we begged for the opportunity to do. I think it’s time for the city to stand up.”

As part of the process, Lompoc has provided a letter confirming it will supply water and wastewater services to the new homes if the applicant obtains an outside agency agreement or the site gets annexed into the city. 

But Bridge said he viewed annexation as the only option.

“It’s being interpreted as we’ll do one or the other. It’s not being interpreted we will only do the annexation, which is what we really mean,” Bridge said. “I think we should be genuine and say it’s time for LAFCO to stand up.”

“The idea is that we’ll be annexed,” Andersen said, adding they hope LAFCO agrees when the proposal lands before the panel.

“The point is to get a project approved that can be built and the desire would be to be annexed for those reasons —utilities, etc.,” Andersen said.

Once the environmental review is done, the project will go to the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission, currently expected to be at the end of 2026 or early 2027. 

After that, the city could move toward submitting an annexation application to LAFCO.