Richards Ranch project developer tries to ease community's concerns around annexation of Orcutt

"As a local developer, we are committed to designing a community that fits Orcutt,” said Michael Stoltey, managing member for the project. ”Additionally, the project will generate millions in annual tax revenue that will directly support Orcutt schools and Orcutt public health and safety. The project's positive impact on the Orcutt economy cannot be overstated.”

Amongst the crowd were residents who supported the project and just about as many who opposed it. A main question from the crowd: Why annex county land, making it part of Santa Maria?

Others who attended the meeting wondered why the project is being proposed at all.

“Annexation and development of this property are crucial for these benefits to materialize," Stoltey said. "We firmly believe that Richards Ranch will be a significant enhancement to Orcutt, providing tremendous value and opportunities for our community.

“We will continue to meet with the neighbors, their input is essential to the success of the project."

The developer told attendees that, in California, there are new laws that require cities and counties to provide “a lot” of new housing.

“By 2030, so seven years from now, Santa Barbara County is going to have to somehow create 25,000 new homes and if Santa Barbara County doesn’t do that, the state will start suing the county," Stoltey said.

The state has directed the county to build 5,664 units between now and 2031, according to the Santa Barbara County Housing Element Draft. Cities in the county also have housing targets that they must hit. 

Stoltey claimed this is why housing projects are popping up throughout the county and in many cases they include “really dense housing and parking not being done correctly.”

“A lot of the time, those developers take advantage of low-income housing destiny bonuses, which the state is essentially allowing those developers to take advantage of,” said Stoltey. “The municipalities are losing control of their process because of developers taking advantage of those state-mandated, low-income housing requirements.”

Developers defend the project by saying the units will be market rate and will not include high-density housing. Also, Stoltey said, the project will be “considerably overparked” compared to recent local housing projects, with each unit including two parking spots. Townhomes will include a parking garage, driveway and have street parking.

“We need to understand the alternative that is at stake here, if this project as we’ve currently designed it can not happen and the site moves to full residential we are seeing that in the county zoning that this site can be 1,200 to 1,400 units,” said Stoltey.

Orcutt resident and local business owner Kirsten Spallino said that if the land is going to be developed regardless, she would prefer something like this proposed project to be there.

“I personally would rather have a nice mixed-use development than high-density housing which might be the alternative,” said Spallino. “The concern I have, though, is that this beautiful conceptual project when it goes into planning could change. So my hope is that if it does go through, there's not a bait-and-switch situation where all of a sudden this beautiful development turns into high-density housing anyway.”

The Richards Ranch Annexation Draft EIR says the plan calls for 18.2 acres of high density residential development for the 400 apartments and 9.2 acres of high density residential development for the 95 townhomes.

"We are dedicated to transparency and community input,” said Stoltey. “Our planned development package, closely aligned with the initial concepts shared during public meetings, will provide full visibility into our project before submission for approval."

If Santa Maria's City Council approves the proposal, the annexation request would then be before the Santa Barbara Local Agency Formation Commission. If approved, the city and county then would work on an agreement for sharing tax revenue.