UC Santa Barbara has reached historic legal settlements with Santa Barbara County and the city of Goleta over student housing.
In two separate announcements Friday afternoon, the university said it would provide 3,500 new student beds and pay $3.7 million to the county to fund community-serving projects in Isla Vista that benefit both UCSB and the broader communities.
The deal also states that UCSB will be fined up to $2 million if it doesn’t construct an initial student housing project by March 31, 2026, and a second student housing project providing the balance of 3,500 beds by March 31, 2028.
“Affordable housing is the most vexing challenge facing our county,” said Second District Santa Barbara County Supervisor Laura Capps. “This Agreement acknowledges that UCSB’s struggles in meeting the needs of its campus community have had a cascading impact on us all.”
Capps added that “we have forged a new chapter in actually delivering university housing and addressing impacts in Isla Vista – the home of one of the largest mass evictions in our history.”
In addition, UCSB has agreed to make a one-time payment of $2.3 million to the city of Goleta to support capital projects intended to serve the broader Goleta and campus communities.
Goleta and the university will work together to identify projects that will receive the funding provided by the university, according to a statement from UCSB.
The university also agreed to pay the city of Goleta $500 per student over the limit, based on a three-quarter average, in the event on-campus enrollment exceeds the enrollment cap, the news release states.
“The university is proud of its more than $2 billion direct and indirect annual contributions to the local economy,” said Chuck Haines, UCSB’s vice chancellor and chief financial officer. “Additional investments in capital projects that benefit our neighbors in Goleta and Santa Barbara County, as well as our students, staff, and faculty, are a better use of resources than legal costs.”
Goleta agreed to waive housing- and enrollment-related claims that it raised under the 2010 agreement, and will dismiss its pending lawsuit, according to the statement.
The terms of the UCSB-County deal include the $3.7 million payment to the county for direct community-facing projects that benefit the broader Isla Vista community and the University community.
It also includes the release of all claims by the county under the 2010 agreement and dismissal of the county’s present lawsuit against UC Santa Barbara.
And it includes the construction of up to 1,874 University workforce housing units — including the nearly completed 160-unit Ocean Walk development — over the next eight years, depending on future university demand.
The Daily Nexus reported last month that UC Santa Barbara is set to complete the first phase of its project to build 2,100 new student beds by 2027. An additional 1,400 beds will be completed by 2029.