Plans to Reopen Goleta’s Fairview Gardens Germinating

The 131-year-old Fairview Gardens farmhouse is linked to the deep historic and agricultural heritage of the Goleta Valley, but the farmland surrounding it has been inactive for four years. The Center for Urban Agriculture at Fairview Gardens, the nonprofit running the farm, proposes a renovation of the urban farm and farmhouse, as well as new activities.

The farmhouse needs a new foundation and repairs to its walls, roof, and fireplace, with the intention that the building will hold educational programs, staff housing, and public events at a new flexible-use café and a teaching-staging kitchen. The events would occur year-round and include youth and adult educational programs, farm-to-table dinners, and fundraisers. The café, though a public one, would prioritize on-site participants. Measures to manage traffic and parking are part of the proposal.

The various land uses proposed at the 13-acre farm are: a service barn, nine farm-employee housing units, a rebuilt farmstand, a restroom structure, education pavilion, service sheds, and outdoor gathering spaces. Water concerns are addressed through a proposal to restore a seasonal creek, stormwater pollution, and drainage plans. The new development includes a request to use land across the eastern portion of the city’s library property, a neighbor to Fairview Gardens.

The nonprofit’s campaign goals include items such as a net-zero energy consumption with solar panels, a focus on deep-rooted plants that require little if any water, and a teaching garden.

To bring these new activities to life, Fairview Gardens needs a conditional use permit (CUP) from the City of Goleta and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review — and a certain amount of neighborhood buy-in. Michael Ableman, one of the original founders of the farm, had departed in 2001 for a farm in Canada. He is now back as executive director and property manager, to guide the project through the city process with the help of Heidi Jones of Meraki Land Use Consulting.

The Center for Urban Agriculture was founded as a nonprofit in 1996 to protect and operate Fairview Gardens, the urban farm that has been providing food and educational opportunities for the community for five decades. Ableman managed the farm on north Fairview Avenue for more than 20 years, after the nonprofit purchased the property in 1997 for $750,000 from the Chapman family, who originally farmed 100 acres of land. Fairview ceased operations in 2022, following some financial issues.

The farmhouse dates back to 1895, when Albert G. Hollister built it on what was then a 480-acre farmstead. The famous Fairview Ranch was named after Hollister’s wife’s exclamation that the house had such a “fair view.” It remains one of the oldest farms in an urban area of Southern California.

The project’s first public meeting is before Goleta’s Historic Preservation Commission (HPC), which formed only three years ago to preserve and protect resources, such as the farmhouse, that once lost, cannot be replaced or replicated. The public hearing takes place on April 20, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. at Goleta City Hall (130 Cremona Dr.).