Residents have expressed concern about proposed condominiums on La Cumbre Road in Santa Barbara, stating that the project could cause too much traffic and would be too large for the area.

On Wednesday, the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission heard a petition to relabel a series of proposed multi-family rental units at 560 N. La Cumbre Road to condos after the developer decided to put the units up for sale.

The Planning Commission approved the new designation in a 4-0 vote.

The property owned by Hope Community Church was rezoned in the county Housing Element process to allow additional density.

On the site, 50 units would be distributed among eight new buildings on the property, including 10 designated as affordable housing.

Under the new designation, the project still would provide 10 affordable housing units. The area was originally zoned for single-family residences but was later rezoned to multi-family residential under the county’s Housing Element.

The county is attempting to add thousands of new housing units by 2031 to reach state goals under the Regional Housing Needs Allocation.

During public comment, speakers expressed concern about the effects the new condos might have on the area and traffic.

Some proposed lowering speed limits in the area, and others asked the commission for more information on the impacts of the buildings.

Other speakers were not aware of the proposed development before Wednesday’s hearing and expressed frustration that they were not informed of the plans until about a month ago.

Jason Poe, who lives near the area, called the lack of notice underhanded and reckless. He added that people in the neighborhood were unaware of the development.

“There was no public comment, no desire from the people involved in this project to know how the residents feel because we would probably have gone along very well with a project that fits the neighborhood,” Poe said.  

He also criticized the buildings, which he said do not fit the area, and questioned how the new development would affect traffic in the neighborhood.

“Once again, a project tailored to the neighborhood would probably have been welcomed by our community,” Poe said. “But instead, it seems like the county quickly approved a process without any input from the neighborhood.”

According to a county traffic study, the new development would add about 30 daily car trips to the area. However, the report also showed that the number of trips during peak hours would decrease by 30 trips.

During deliberations, Commissioner John Parke said the commission’s hands were tied in this instance since their discussion was only whether to relabel the units as condos for sale, not decide on the project itself.

“We’re looking at the sole question of shall this be condominiums, as opposed to a rental project,” Parke said. “And I’ve already expressed my opinion that that’s a very healthy thing, that we have some of these affordable projects that have affordable housing in them that are for sale, and that’s a good thing.”

This project site is within county jurisdiction but is close to Santa Barbara city limits.