A local developer’s proposal to build a hotel, townhomes and apartments in Vandenberg Village encountered strong opposition from local residents, prompting one man to warn about “a tsunami of opposition.”

The nonprofit Vandenberg Village Association hosted the sometimes heated meeting that included Santa Barbara County Fourth District Supervisor Bob Nelson providing information, answering questions and listening to comments for more than two hours at the Valley of the Flowers United Church of Christ. 

Most of the meeting focused on the proposal, involving the Patel family, to develop a three-story hotel on Constellation Road with 87 rooms plus 60 executive apartments, some of which would be furnished.

An Apollo Way project would include 98 two-story townhomes and 204 two- and three-story apartments.

“This is very conceptual at this point,” Nelson said, adding that review and possible consideration of development projects can take time. “It’s still really in its infancy.”

The developments remain in the pre-application phase and eventually would be considered during the public meetings involving the North Board of Architectural Review and the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission. 

Those spearheading the project are longtime stakeholders in Lompoc, according to Gilda Cordova, who along with Preyesh Patel represented the applicants.

“This is just a proposal. I understand that this is your community. This is our community as well,” Cordova said, adding that housing and well-structured growth can boost the area’s vitality.

Cordova, a longtime hospitality industry employee, serves on the Lompoc City Council, but the pair of projects sit outside the city and fall in Santa Barbara County’s jurisdiction.

The extended stay hotel would serve people including those involved in Vandenberg Space Force Base launches. Some crew members arrive weeks or months before liftoff, so the new hotel’s rooms would have kitchenettes and other amenities for those staying longer. 

“We are proposing something that there’s a gap for in our market,” Cordova said.

As local hotel owners in the community, they know where the demand exists, Patel added. 

“We’re not trying to extremely maximize zoning with the parcels,” Patel said. “The parcels were zoned for a specific thing a long time ago, and we’re not going above and beyond the zoning. We’re actually doing right at it or a little bit less.”

Residents spoke out about the developments’ potential impacts on water, traffic, parking, schools, proximity to a park and more. 

“Why does the village need three stories? That’s an eyesore,” one resident said.

Once the application is deemed complete, the looming development review process will involve an environmental analysis and traffic study. 

One woman questioned why the developments couldn’t go in Lompoc, prompting applause from supporters.

Lompoc has limited land available for development or owners refusing to sell, Cordova said, adding that they can’t force owners to sell the property.

“This is just the tip of an iceberg,” one man said. “There are thousands of other residents here in the village. It will be like a tsunami of opposition to this project.

“My question I’d like to ask is, why don’t you go somewhere else where you’re strongly supported?” he added to another outburst of a clapping.

Audience members suggested that someone should find an endangered species at the site to halt or slow development.

Cordova said the vehement opposition saddened her, noting that the local team intended to be “mindful and grow the community the right way.”

“We don’t have to do this project. We can pull out. But somebody from the outside will come in and they will shove it down your throats in the manner that the state allows them to and, unfortunately, Supervisor Nelson will have no say so,” Cordova said.

Dramatic changes in state law have allowed developers to place high-density housing on land even if it’s zoned for commercial and residential uses.

Nelson noted that the state housing laws have led to a loss of local control for counties and cities. That has meant residential projects can bypass local laws to include more units per acre and fewer parking spaces. 

“It’s happening all over our county and state right now,” Nelson said, referring to a project to create 60 units on a 1-acre site in Orcutt.

One angry man remained skeptical.

“Nobody’s cramming down state housing in our throats yet. … We don’t want transient housing. And we’ll worry about state housing if it ever comes to that,” he said.