Shelby Builder’s Remedy Project in Goleta Undergoes Design and Environmental Review

Development at 7400 Cathedral Oaks Road Includes Lower-Income Homes and Fruit Trees

The busy intersection at Glen Annie and Cathedral Oaks roads is about to get busier once the Shelby Project adds 56 single-family homes down the street from Dos Pueblos High School. | Credit: Courtesy

The latest set of plans for the Shelby Project at 7400 Cathedral Oaks Road includes avocado, lemon, and other fruit trees as well as native shade trees, Goleta’s Design Review Board (DRB) noted approvingly at its meeting on February 10. Shelby also received a compliment for not taking advantage of the unlimited waivers it was entitled to as a builder’s remedy project.

Originating in a 2005 tract map with 60 separate lots, Shelby produced two environmental reports over the decades, as well as surviving a water moratorium, seeing the neighboring golf course rezoned for housing, and settling a lawsuit with the City of Goleta in favor of its current application. Major changes occurred to state law, too, including the Housing Accountability Act and a greater use of builder’s remedy, which allows a builder to bypass zoning rules while a city is out of compliance with a state housing report — Goleta’s plight in 2023 and early ’24.

As a builder’s remedy project, according to the DRB staff report, Shelby is allowed two planning concessions automatically in exchange for at least 7 percent lower-income homes — Shelby has 9 percent, or five lower-income homes. One concession allows narrow breaches into El Encanto Creek’s setback, compensated for by adding open space, and four waivers affecting lot sizes. Though neighbors attended the hearing to comment on retaining mountain views and wildlife passage along the creek, the boardmembers noted repeatedly that the meeting comments were nonbinding due to the state rules in force.

The project, which now totals 56 homes after two acres of setback from the creek were added, is in the middle of its third environmental report. A total of 11 deed-restricted homes are in the works: four for extremely low-income households ($47,700 for a family of three in 2025), one for lower-income households (between $79,450 to $127,100 for three people), and six are split between moderate-income ($128,600) and above-moderate-income households. The homes have three bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms, and range in size between 1,723 square feet and 2,262 square feet.

Jim Youngson, who is managing the project for the owners, said they haven’t decided yet whether the deed-restricted homes will be rented or sold. The 11 homes reflect Goleta’s 20 percent inclusionary housing figure; previously, the Independent had incorrectly reported that 13 homes would be affordable.

In the decades that have passed since Dr. Glynne Couvillion bought the 14-acre property in 1978, many things have changed, including Goleta gaining cityhood in 2002 and new state building rules. Sitting in Goleta’s foothills, the Shelby homes are in a “very high” fire zone. The updated site plans reflect that location, using fire-resistant materials in home construction, undergrounding utilities, implementing defensible space, and incorporating fire breaks.

The light blue lines along the western edge of the Shelby Project mark the “streamside protection area,” or El Encanto Creek setback, which small portions of homes, yards, and a sidewalk cross into. | Credit: Courtesy

As for water usage, the request of 39 acre-feet per year at Shelby addresses both household and landscaping requirements, Youngson said, an amount well within Goleta Water District’s annual new water maximum of 154.7 acre-feet. Other water features at the project are rainbarrels at each residence to capture stormwater and a stormwater retention basin in El Encanto Creek’s two-acre setback.

In addition to avoiding certain sensitive plant and animal species along the creek, the largest hurdle for the development is transportation. In its alternatives analysis, the city estimated the project would achieve “less than significant” effects from daily trips only if the project held 13 new homes, not 56.

The project runs over both Goleta and the county thresholds for vehicle miles traveled (VMT), a fact deemed “significant and unavoidable” in the Draft EIR (DIER). In order to reduce the traffic effect — Shelby is about a half-mile from the Cathedral Oaks intersection with Glen Annie Road, which doubles to more than 400 cars in the morning and afternoon compared to noontime traffic in a 2019 city study — the project could improve sidewalks and the bicycle corridors, and add a bus stop, the environmental document states. As Goleta Valley Junior High and Brandon Elementary are nearby, the project could also work with the school district on ride-sharing programs for students.

The skunk at the garden party is Glen Annie Golf Club. Just over Goleta city borders beyond Shelby, the golf course lies in the County of Santa Barbara, which rezoned it for housing despite objections voiced by city officials. Though the applications are not in to County Planning for the projected 1,000 homes, the rezoning is final. The City of Goleta might be dismayed at the prospect of additional urban sprawl, but for the county, the new homes would add to the housing required by the state.

So many new homes and residents on the golf course acreage, alongside the perennial threat of wildfire in the foothills, would require the closure of Cathedral Oaks as the roads are currently configured, the Wildfire portion of the DEIR states. Evacuation could be delayed in an emergency, with significant cumulative effects unless new designs find a way to re-route traffic.

Shelby’s traffic-related improvements are still being worked out, said Youngson, but should be finalized by the time the project heads to the Planning Commission once the EIR is finalized. The DEIR optimistically forecasts the start of construction by January 2027.