While the region still waits in anticipation for Beanie Babies billionaire Ty Warner’s reopening of the fabled Four Seasons in Montecito, Warner and his team have journeyed up the coast in an attempt to revitalize a historic golf course in Goleta.
Despite his controversial recent projects, filled with delays and a class-action lawsuit from former employees, Warner’s latest — the refurbishment of the Sandpiper Golf Club, an 18-hole public course initially developed in the early 1970s by Montecito resident Ken Hunter — received a green light last week and high praise from members of the community and city council.
The Goleta City Council unanimously approved a massive redevelopment of the course and its associated facilities, giving rise to Warner’s decades-long vision to redevelop the golf course and turn it into a world-class destination. Pending approval from the California Coastal Commission, the golf course and infrastructure improvements on the property include a new clubhouse, a bike path and the renovation of the historic Barnsdall Rio Grande gas station building, which was built in 1929, shortly after oil was discovered at the nearby Ellwood Oil Field…