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.
