Developer Westar Associates submitted a plan on February 25 to Goleta leaders that would alter the layout of Hollister Village. Instead of five live-work spaces and two commercial units, Westar is now proposing to build 33 apartments, 40 parking spaces, and a 0.48-acre park on a nearly two-acre parcel of Hollister Village land across from Camino Real Marketplace known as the “triangle property.”

In October 2012, Goleta’s City Council approved Westar’s plan to build 266 apartments, five live-work units, a 0.39-acre park, and an 88,000 square-foot shopping center to be known as Hollister Village. One month later, a Glen Annie neighbor sued over an array of design and CEQA concerns with the triangle property development. The case was settled outside of court and the developer revised plans to replace two commercial buildings and one three-story live-work building with two two-story apartment buildings (16 studios and 17 one-bedroom apartments) and to move the park from its approved location on Sespe Lane to further south on Glen Annie towards Hollister.

“Part of the settlement was the agreement that the developer would not move forward with the commercial development on that section of the project,” said City of Goleta spokesperson Valerie Kushnerov. Amidst cries from some neighbors over congested roads and blocked mountain views, the mixed-use project broke ground in October 2013 in all areas except the triangle property.

Now structurally complete, the Hollister Village Plaza is home to Smart & Final Extra! It promises one-stop shopping from T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless to Zizzo’s Coffee, Wahoo’s, Dickey’s, Pickles & Swiss, Supercuts, a nail salon, and rumors of a drug store. Westar plans to move R&R Furniture and Mattress, Pieology, and Sno Crave Tea House into the commercial buildings between the triangle property and Hollister.

The Design Review Board reviewed and commented on the triangle property plan on June 23, 2015. The official revised proposal, submitted last month, exceeds the originally approved plan by 28 units and moves the 30.9-feet-tall, two-story apartment buildings closer to Hollister Avenue than originally approved. Under Goleta’s General Plan, the maximum building height in residential zones is 35 feet. The proposal also includes a 0.48-acre park and 40 parking spaces.

The project will go to the Planning Commission once the environmental document is completed, said Kushnerov. If approved, it would require a rezone and a General Plan amendment.

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