Forty-six homes are proposed for the Goleta property that most recently held Santa Barbara Motorsports at 5955 Calle Real. Located on a popular shopping strip anchored by Trader Joe’s, restaurants, shops, and banks, the development forecasts sets of three-story, three-bedroom structures, with attached two-car garages. Two of the units will be configured as “live-work” spaces, and each apartment would run 1,333 to 1,672 square feet. The project goes before the city’s Design Review Board on July 14 for a conceptual and preliminary review.
Two of the residences will be deed-restricted to very-low-income households — currently a family of four earning $91,050 or less — with in-lieu fees satisfying the remaining 20 percent inclusionary requirement of 5.8 units. The affordable units allow the developer to use the provisions of Senate Bill 330 and others in the state Housing Accountability Act to gain a more dense development: from 20 to 23 units per acre. The density bonus also allows the project to ask for a four-foot height waiver (from 35 to 39 feet), zero common bicycle chargers instead of five, and no heat island standards for the parking lot, which would have been 480 square feet.
More than a half-dozen trees dot the lot now, which once held the Good Earth restaurant, and the Bray’s 101 relocated in 1960 from Gutierrez and State before that. The project includes five guest parking spaces, as allowed in the state density bonus, and a dog park with shade and a barbecue area. The 46 units will be contained among seven buildings — five containing six units and two with eight, said planner Christina McGuire — but the fate of the trees is yet unknown.
Project developer City Ventures of Irvine bills itself as a leading “solar and all-electric home builder.” The homes will be all electric, and include solar, Energy Star appliances, dual-glazed windows, and water-efficient fixtures for energy and water savings.
With the SB330 streamlining statute, only five public hearings are allowed, though the project still must acquire its tract map and land-use permits. The small, infill site also falls under Assembly Bill 130, which allows it to be exempt from environmental review. The city’s Planning Commission would review the exemption when it considers the project and its entitlements at a future date. The design review meeting takes place Tuesday, July 14, at 3 p.m. at Goleta City Hall (130 Cremona Dr.).
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