Back in April 2022, when the plan was announced to develop the 27.53-acre site at 5669 and 5885 Carpinteria Avenue with a hotel and workforce housing, Carpinterians reacted with horror, insisting that the bluffs must remain undeveloped. Personally, I thought if the land was going to get built on, as the zoning allows, the proposal was close to ideal: “20 acres will be for open space including native habitat restoration, public trails, and [a 7-acre] organic farm. Another 5.93 acres will be for ground-level hardscape including walkways, terraces, driveways and parking all on permeable surfaces. The remaining 1.6 acres will be used for the [99-room] hotel, restaurant, event barn, farm operations and residential spaces.”
I’m bringing all of this back up in detail in the hope that the new proposal—for 191 dwelling units (97 detached single-family homes and 94 townhomes, likely for sale and not rent)—is a ploy to get Carp to reconsider the original one. The new design, by Bassenian Lagoni in Newport Beach, has yet to be made public, but I think we can assume it will use more of the land than the hotel would have.
The state of California does not care that residents want the bluffs preserved; hellbent on adding housing, it is allowing developers to circumvent the bureaucracy once used to stymie unsavory projects. While the 191-unit proposal qualifies for the dreaded Builder’s Remedy provision (also used for the monstrosity proposed behind the Mission in Santa Barbara), the developer is saying it’ll use the density bonus to accommodate the housing instead—and retain the Builder’s Remedy rights if they turn out to be necessary. The plan will start to make its way through the Carpinteria planning process soon…