Judge Sides with Senior Housing in Granny’s Field Dispute
Superior Court Judge Pauline Maxwell sided with the Santa Barbara Unified School District as the Goleta Water District (GWD) sought to deny water service to proposed senior-care housing on school district land — known as Granny’s Field or the Tatum property — near Turnpike and Hollister. Parched by five consecutive years of historic drought, GWD complained in court last fall; Maxwell ruled last week that the school district has water rights. The facility could feature upward of 180 units of independent living and a yet-to-be-determined number of assisted-living beds, plus memory care. The Towbes Group is the developer, and depending on the size of the facility, the land lease could bring roughly $1 million annually to the school district’s general fund.
