Thanks, but no thanks.
The Montecito Planning Commission, your services are not needed.
In a surprise, 11th-hour announcement, Lisa Plowman, director of Planning & Development for Santa Barbara County, said that the controversial Miramar housing and boutique shop project is headed for the county Planning Commission — skipping the Montecito Planning Commission, its original destination.
“I am disappointed at an attempt to change its original venue of the first hearing,” said Marshall Miller, chairman of the Montecito Planning Commission. “I am really disappointed in it. This is why the MPC exists and why it was created.”
Skipping the MPC and going straight to the county Planning Commission will speed up the project and possibly allow its approval while First District Supervisor Das Williams is still in office.
Williams has been a supporter of the project. The new supervisor, Roy Lee, who takes office in January, is less favorable and opposes skipping the MPC hearing.
Developer Rick Caruso intends to build 26 affordable-housing units and eight market-rate units at the site of the Rosewood Miramar Beach luxury hotel at 1555 S. Jameson Lane. In addition, he wants to add about 17,500 square feet of high-end boutique retail shops.
Plowman’s letter, dated last Friday, says that Caruso’s development team informed the county that the “affordable housing” project falls under the protections of the Housing Accountability Act and under the jurisdiction of the county Planning Commission, not the Montecito Planning Commission.
The project is included in the county’s Housing Element to meet state demand for more housing. The hearing is scheduled for Oct. 9.
“We did not realize that affordable housing was in the list of project types that are under the jurisdiction of the county Planning Commission and only learned of this last week,” Plowman said. “To my knowledge, this is the first affordable housing project proposed in the Montecito Planning Areas since the formation of the Montecito Planning Commission in 2002. Upon learning of this provision, we pivoted to follow the law and move the Miramar project to the county Planning Commission for a decision.”
Supervis0r-elect Lee told Noozhawk that the MPC should review the project and make a recommendation before the county Planning Commission discusses it.
“The Montecito Planning Commission exists to ensure the community’s voice is heard,” Lee said. “Everyone deserves the opportunity to give input and improve the future of their neighborhood. Engaging the community almost always results in a better project with buy-in from locals.”
However, Williams told Noozhawk that the situation is being mischaracterized.
He said the law is clear that affordable housing projects are supposed to go to the county Planning Commission.
“My decision on this project, if it comes to me, will be based on the law and what represents the greatest needs in the community,” Williams said. “The Miramar has applied for this 76% affordable housing/mixed-use project under a state law that mandates expedited review from the county. Trying to delay it for more months is contrary to the intent of the state law and could get us into trouble with the California Department of Housing and Community Development.”
Williams and Plowman have been working together to identify a process that allows the Montecito Planning Commission to still have a role and make a recommendation. The county Planning Commission is scheduled to hear the project Oct. 9, take public comment and ask questions. The meeting will be continued, Plowman and Williams both said, to allow the Montecito Planning Commission time to hear the item on Oct. 18. The county Planning Commission then is scheduled to vote on the project Nov. 1.
However, Montecito Planning Commission chairman Miller said it is within the discretion of the county Board of Supervisors to reassign the matter to the Montecito Planning Commission because that’s why the board was created.
The matter originally had been scheduled for the MPC on Sept. 18, but the group could not make a quorum. Miller had to recuse himself, at the direction of the Santa Barbara County counsel, because he is a parishioner of All Saints-By-the-Sea Episcopal Church, which is next door to the project.
If the county Planning Commission approves the project, it can be appealed, and it most likely would be on an agenda while Williams is still in office.
Bryce Ross, a spokesman for the Rosewood Miramar project, said the company wanted to take the project directly to the Planning Commission to avoid an “indefinite delay.”
“The cancellation of a number of scheduled meetings earlier this year, and concerns about the ability to secure the legal minimum number of members needed to hold a hearing, led to uncertainty about scheduling a hearing for The Miramar plan,” Ross said in a statement. “The delay started to look indefinite. This prompted a closer look at the county code.”
He said the code states that planning applications in Santa Barbara County involving affordable housing are the jurisdiction of the county Planning Commission.
Miller said affordable housing projects should be within the jurisdiction of the MPC.
“It is my hope and expectation that the county will find a way to have the MPC hear affordable housing projects,” Miller said. “These housing projects are not outside the bounds of Montecito.”