California Coastal Commission Comes to Santa Barbara: What to Expect

Commission to Hear Garden Street Hotel and Miramar Development Appeals, UCSB Housing Aspirations, Sable Offshore Enforcement Report

Clockwise from top left: The California Coastal Commission will vote on whether to impose a nearly $15 million fine on Sable Offshore, get an update on UCSB’s San Benito student housing project, and hear appeals of the Rosewood Miramar and Garden Street Hotel developments on Thursday, April 10. | Credits: Glenn Beltz and Courtesy

The California Coastal Commission is set to meet in Santa Barbara on April 9-11, and with no shortage of Santa Barbara–related items on the agenda, the meeting is likely to be highly attended and opportunistically located for those who want to get involved. A hefty enforcement report focused solely on oil operations off the Santa Barbara coast, appeals on the Garden Street Hotel and Rosewood Miramar developments, and UCSB’s student housing aspirations will come before the commission on Thursday, April 10.

One of the hotter topics at the Coastal Commission’s meeting will be a lengthy enforcement report on Sable Offshore, the oil company working day and night to restart oil platforms and pipelines along the Gaviota Coast. Commissioners will vote on whether to impose a nearly $15 million administrative penalty on Sable for its alleged unpermitted construction work in the coastal zone and disregard for one of two cease-and-desist orders issued by the commission’s executive director, Kate Huckelbridge. On top of the penalty, staff recommend that the commissioners require Sable to abide by an environmental restoration order and a third cease-and-desist order.

The Coastal Commission will also hear all about UC Santa Barbara’s plans to construct a new seven-building, 2,224-bed student housing development between Mesa Road and Stadium Road. The San Benito housing project was born of two lawsuits filed against the university by the City of Goleta and Santa Barbara County, both alleging that the university neglected to provide adequate student housing, which negatively affected their respective jurisdictions. The university settled in March 2024 for $6 million and a promise to put student housing initiatives at the forefront of their work.

With San Benito construction already underway, UCSB has asked the commission to allow amendments to their plans, namely raising the maximum building heights on all seven buildings from 65 feet to 81 feet. Commission staff have recommended that certain buildings be allowed to raise their heights to between 70 and 80 feet, and only one be approved to hit the 81-foot mark. Additionally, UCSB has asked for modifications to parking regulations that currently require one space to be built for every four student beds. Staff have recommended that the university be allowed to reduce this ratio by assigning students parking spaces in other existing structures and lots in the area. Commissioners will vote on whether to approve UCSB’s new development plan with commission staff’s modifications at next Thursday’s meeting.

Moving right down the coast, commissioners will hear appeals filed by Santa Barbara nonprofit Keep the Funk and Steven Johnson against the proposed 250-room Garden Street Hotel. The development was approved by the Santa Barbara Planning Commission in March 2024, then survived its first appeal by Keep the Funk at City Council in November. Now, it comes to the Coastal Commission. The appellants argue that the proposed development, which includes a large underground garage, would disrupt contaminated soil and have negative impacts on water quality in the coastal area.

Also on the Coastal Commission’s appeals agenda are those against the Rosewood Miramar expansion in Montecito, which was set to bring commercial retail space and affordable housing units to the upscale beachside hotel. The appellants, nonprofit group Heal the Ocean and Unite Here Local 11, allege that the affordable housing units are slated for areas that are far more flood-prone than the retail space, citing some serious social equity issues. Both the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to approve the project last year after multiple appeals, including one from Heal the Ocean.

In both cases, the Coastal Commission must decide if the appeals raise a “substantial issue” after hearing from all sides, and if so, schedule a public hearing on the issue for a future meeting. The commission’s staff have found no substantial issue in either of the appeals, and therefore recommend that the commissioners uphold previous decisions made by their respective Santa Barbara governments.

The California Coastal Commission’s meeting is open to the public, and will convene at 9 a.m. April 9-11 at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Hotel (633 E. Cabrillo Blvd.). The meeting will be live-streamed. Community members can participate in public comment by emailing the staff member listed on the item of interest or by filling out a speaker request form to comment in person, all of which can be found here.