Plans for the boutique Surfliner Inn should come before the Carpinteria Planning Commission sometime in 2026, staff confirmed Wednesday night during an Environmental Review Committee discussion on the project’s draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR).
The public comment period for the draft EIR closes March 9 at 5 p.m.
The Surfliner Inn is a 36-room, cottage-style hotel proposed for a city-owned parcel at 499 Linden Ave. Currently on that site is Parking Lot #3, also known as the Amtrak Parking Lot.
The hotel would be built on roughly half of that lot. Forty-six new parking spaces would be built on the other half.
The inn would have a manager’s unit, a visitor’s center, a cafe/restaurant, a rooftop lounge, a pool, spa and event space. The height would be 30 feet tall at the top of the second floor, with a maximum height at the elevator tower of 37 feet, 1 inch.
The developers — 499 Linden Managers LLC — plan to build a new 93-space parking lot across the railroad tracks at 399 Linden Ave., for a net plus of 26 parking spots. That lot would be known as Parking Lot #4.
Parking spots on both sites would remain open for public use.
The city began looking into developing those lands for public use after acquiring parcels along the railroad tracks back in 2012 and 2013.
As part of the city’s work plan in 2015, the City Council decided to pursue building an inn and restaurant on Parking Lot #3; they wanted something in the model of the previous two-story Amtrak building, which was torn down in the 1960s.
Supporters have said the Surfliner will bring much-needed tourism and cash flow to Carpinteria’s downtown.
Early financial analysis showed the inn could bring in roughly $600,000 in direct yearly revenue to the city.
Under the lease disposition and development agreement signed with the developers in 2021, the city would lease the land for 55 years for 5.5% of the appraised fair market value. The city would also receive 4.5% of gross income revenue.
Project opponents have argued the hotel is too big for the downtown area and would cause traffic congestion. There is one entrance and exit in and out of the city’s Beach Neighborhood, which is located next to the proposed Parking Lot #4.
Opponents attempted to put a measure on the city’s 2022 ballot to rezone Parking Lot #3 so it couldn’t be developed. That measure narrowly failed, and the project continues to move through the city’s review pipeline.
The Carpinteria Architectural Review Board offered preliminary approval back in December 2024. Next, the project will go to the city’s Planning Commission sometime this year, at a date to be determined.
A dozen or so people gave their feedback on the draft EIR and the project as a whole on Wedneday night, including several familiar voices in the longtime fight against the Surfliner Inn and Parking Lot #4.
Kristin Larson — a lawyer who said she represents Carpinterians Marla Daily and Kirk Connelly — told the committee the 399 Linden Ave. parcel helps wildlife travel through the area.
She said Daily and Connelly, who live near that parcel, don’t oppose the project “in concept,” but rather the “destruction of the open space” and “ill-conceived government action.”
For years, Daily has spoken out publicly against the development of that plot. She told the council at a meeting in 2019 that 399 Linden Ave. is the “last remaining undeveloped, unbroken urban open-space corridor in town.”
Larson on Wednesday said it was a “gem for the city.”
The city’s EIR did tackle impact mitigation around raptors, hawks and trees on that plot, but did not specify the usage of other land-based animals because the parcel is surrounded on both ends by urban developments, staff clarified.
Commenter Giti White said the draft EIR is a “disingenuous, conclusory joke” and called the project itself a “terrible mistake.”
She also said the EIR lacks an analysis of an alternative site for the Surfliner.
The EIR looked at several alternatives to the project: no project at all; no Parking Lot #4; turning Parking Lot #4 into a single-loaded parking lot and not reconstructing a 5-foot-wide public pathway on that site; extending Parking Lot #3 and relocating the city’s community garden; and forbidding rooftop use of the Surfliner Inn.
The developers had originally envisioned moving the community garden for the project, but opted for alternate plans in 2022 following community backlash, Coastal View News reported.
City Principal Planner Mindy Fogg said that, typically, project alternative analysis under the EIR focuses on comparisons to the project itself, instead of looking at alternative locations.
She said if the staff or the Planning Commission requests the city look into a different site for the Surfliner, a more detailed analysis will be done.
Commenter Lorraine McIntire, a member of the city’s Downtown “T” Business Advisory Board, said she wanted to thank the committee for allowing the draft EIR to go forward.
“I trust the professionals that were involved in this,” she said. “If they have the expertise to pull this forward, I’m not going to question their expertise because they are the ones who are educated in this.”
Environmental Review Committee members ultimately recommended the draft EIR be forwarded to the Planning Commission, with their and members of the public’s comments attached. Committee member Jenny Slaughter was absent.
Committee members Delayni Millar and Vince Semonsen requested that staff further analyze any wildlife impacts at the 399 Linden Ave. parcel.
Committee members also questioned the lack of a full parking analysis in the draft EIR.
City staff and legal counsel explained that under current state guidelines, traffic congestion and parking are considered social and economic impacts, not environmental ones, and are now addressed at the planning level.
City Principal Planner Mindy Fogg said any potential parking and traffic issues will be addressed when the project comes to the Carpinteria Planning Commission.
The full draft EIR can be reviewed online here.
For the record: This article was updated to include a closer photo of the 399 Linden Ave. parcel for clarity.