A revived and revised housing project now proposing 257 homes in southeastern Lompoc received the city Planning Commission’s approval on Wednesday night.
Planning commissioners considered the architectural design, site development review and other matters for the River Terrace development at 1701 E. Laurel Ave. before voting unanimously on the project submitted by Williams Homes of Santa Clarita.
“Good luck with this exciting project,” chairman Federico Cioni said after the vote. “I’m real happy to see something of this magnitude come to the city of Lompoc.”
River Terrace would be a gated community with 257 residential condominium units — 106 detached single-family residences, 76 residential duplexes and 75 townhomes on 25 acres of vacant land.
Homes would use Spanish, modern Spanish and contemporary farmhouse architectural styles.
Amenities would include a pocket park, bike trails, a grassy field, fire pits, a pavilion, a dog park, par course exercise equipment/stations, a community garden, a vineyard, a children’s tot lot, guest parking and decorative street lighting.
Single-family homes would be 1,603 to 2,128 square feet, while duplexes would be 1,563 to 1,617 square feet. Townhouses are proposed to be 1,345 to 1,550 square feet.
The developer asked for, and was granted, a change in a condition spelling out when construction could occur. Commissioners agreed to allow work from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Staff initially had proposed allowing construction from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
The development also has about 42,200 square feet for future commercial uses that were not part of the application under consideration Wednesday night.
This isn’t a new project, with the environmental impact report and other aspects for a then-308-unit development receiving approval approximately 16 years ago.
Mike Badner, senior vice president for Williams Homes, said some of the firm’s employees have worked on the project for 16 years.
“We’re excited to bring this project to market,” Badner said. “Hopefully in the next year, year and a half we’ll get out there and start building houses.”
On Wednesday night, the Planning Commission also recommended that the City Council approve changes to Lompoc’s zoning code to allow residential developers to use alternative methods to comply with the inclusionary housing requirements.
Staff said the River Terrace developer sought flexility in meeting the affordable housing requirement.
Under the change, developers could pay in-lieu fees or create off-site affordable housing units.
Lompoc’s inclusionary housing regulation requires developers to set aside a designated number of units — 15% of the project — as affordable housing. That number is higher than other cities with inclusionary housing regulations that require 10% for affordable housing.
Under the formula, that would mean 39 units for the River Terrace development.
If units on site aren’t designated for affordable housing, the developer could pony up $113,000 per unit with the funding directed into Lompoc’s program for first-time homebuyers. Another option would be an off-site affordable housing project.
Lompoc Community Development Department staff ultimately would have to approve the developer’s plan for complying with the inclusionary housing rules, staff told commissioners.
River Terrace is the largest housing development proposed in the city in the past decade, since the Briar Creek project (originally called Seabreeze Estates), which included approximately 300 residential units. More recently, Summer View Homes, with 44 units, has been developed at the northern edge of the city.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.