‘The Farm’ Development Proposes 191 Homes on Carpinteria Bluffs

A new development, dubbed “The Farm,” is proposed for the Carpinteria bluffs. Despite the name, it will not host fields of corn or cows, but, instead, 191 for-sale homes.

Developers will host a public open house on April 9, marking the first opportunity for community members to weigh in.

The 27-acre site is located at 5885 Carpinteria Avenue, sitting beside the Carpinteria Bluffs Nature Preserve and the Seal Sanctuary — land valued for its grassy open space, native habitat, wildflowers, and trails. It’s currently home to the Tee Time driving range and a small organic farm.

It’s a prime location, no doubt. But not for real estate, community members say. Conservationists are pointing to the writing on the wall — which is, essentially, a big “STOP” sign. 

The Citizens for the Carpinteria Bluffs, a local community group, have a long-running track record of snuffing out past development attempts on the bluffs.

“There’s so much worth saving,” said Patrick Crooks, a longtime Carpinteria resident and president of the Citizens for the Carpinteria Bluffs. 

He noted the coastal views, the seal rookery — one of only two spots in Southern California where the public can gaze upon seals and their pups — and the land’s deep ties to Chumash heritage.  

In the 1990s, it was community members who scraped together the pennies needed to acquire the Carpinteria Bluffs Nature Preserve. However, it did not include the 5885 Carpinteria Avenue parcel, which is privately owned and allowed for residential use. 

“The bluffs are held so dearly by the community,” Crooks said. “How special is it that we have open, undeveloped land along the coast? That’s a treasure. Let’s have that be the last thing that gets developed.”

Here’s the developers’ pitch, though: The city needs housing. Communities up and down the coast are experiencing a housing shortage. And this new neighborhood could make a major dent in the amount of housing Carpinteria is beholden by the state to build. 

Of the proposed 191 homes, 94 are townhouses, with three-bedroom units. The other 97 are single-family homes, with five-bedroom units.

The homes will not be taller than two stories, up to 30 feet, according to early plans. Parking will include on-street guest parking and a two-car garage for each unit, totaling 683 parking spaces. 

According to developers, 20 percent would be designated as affordable units for low-income households, including 20 single-family homes and 19 townhouses.

The development team — under applicant name “Central Coast CA Ventures LLC,” led by owner Paul Brenneke — said it is working with People’s Self-Help Housing on the affordable units.

Under state mandates, Carpinteria must plan to build 901 new residential units by 2031. 

That’s the rough plan laid out in the city’s housing element, approved by the state last year. It seeks to issue hundreds of building permits for a mix of low-, moderate-, and above-moderate-income housing units. Since its approval, the city has issued 73 permits.

“This project will go a long way toward helping the city achieve those goals and allow future generations to call Carpinteria their home,” The Farm developers claim on their website. 

Developers are promising to maintain public access down to the coast, including recreational trails with “native, drought-tolerant landscaping,” they say. They would also plant 253 new trees, while preserving some sycamores already on-site.

The southern portion of the site, they say, will remain undeveloped, conserving native vegetation and coastal sage scrub. All residential development will be limited to the northern parcel of the site, near the mountainside and set back 200 feet from the existing railroad tracks. 

Thanks to state housing laws, the developers have an easier trail themselves. When The Farm delivered its preliminary application in 2024, the city’s 2023-2031 Housing Element had not yet been certified by the state. 

That means the project gets some leeway under “builder’s remedy.” That’s when developers propose projects while a city is out of compliance with state housing laws — skirting zoning regulations in exchange for affordable units.

However, on the project website, developers say that although the city’s development standards are “inapplicable because of the builder’s remedy application,” the project “nonetheless complies with the city’s objective development standards.”

Developers submitted a formal application to the city in June 2025. After two incomplete application attempts, the city determined the application was complete in December, followed by a consistency review report in February that determined many of the project details inconsistent with city policies. 

This project is not the same as the 99-room resort and farmhouse previously proposed on the same lot by Carp Bluffs LLC, which was vehemently opposed by Carpinteria residents. 

Story poles went up, but that project never came to fruition after a heated Architectural Review Board meeting that put community opposition on full display. The board voted to continue the project, allowing the developers to come back with something that might be more in line with the size, bulk, and scale of a development fit for the area. But instead, they switched gears completely. The former owners who bought the land for $15 million around 2021 and proposed the resort  — Matt Goodwin and Chris Carlin — are no longer involved. 

“I recognize the state handed us this kind of hard pill to swallow, and I’m not opposed to change,” Crooks said. “But there’s 20 other different places where you could come up with, in theory, 900 units.”

Crooks said that the developers should “listen to Carpinterians” and offer to sell the land or “do it somewhere else.” 

“But we’ll see,” he added. “Nothing is happening fast. This is a marathon, not a sprint.”

Carpinteria city staff are reviewing proposals from environmental consulting groups for a draft environmental impact report for the project. A consultant will be chosen at a future city council meeting. 

Environmental review for the project will begin later this year, followed by public hearings. 

The open house will be held Thursday, April 9, at the Carpinteria Community Church, 1111 Vallecito Road, from 6 to 8 p.m.