The City of Goleta is disappointed with today’s ruling by the Santa Barbara County Superior Court, which allows a “Builder’s Remedy” application for a 56-unit, low-density residential development to proceed on a roughly 14-acre, agriculturally zoned property owned by Shelby Family Partnership, L.P. (“Shelby”). The property is located along a congested stretch of Cathedral Oaks adjacent to the Glenn Annie Golf Course property near Dos Pueblos High School. 

In the pending matter, Shelby Family Partnership, L.P. v. City of Goleta, the court denied the City’s Motion For Judgment on the Pleadings, which would have dismissed Shelby’s causes of actions. The court also granted judgment in favor of Shelby on two causes of action and will issue a writ of mandate requiring the City to process both the Shelby’s 2023 preliminary application submitted pursuant to SB 330 and a previous 2011 application submitted for the same site. At issue in the Shelby case was whether two different sets of laws, from two different time periods, could apply to the Shelby housing project located at 7400 Cathedral Oaks Road. The City’s position was that only one set of rules, at the developer’s selection, can apply to the housing project. The court’s ruling essentially rejects the City’s position and allows for the rules from both time periods to apply to the project and its processing.

The City’s land use policies focus on existing, zoned housing capacity; prioritizing walkable, transit-oriented, in-fill development; critically evaluating environmental impacts; avoiding urban sprawl; and protecting agricultural land and open space. The Shelby housing project is contrary to the City’s formally adopted, local priorities. As designated agricultural land, the subject site was not included in the City’s Housing Element and is not needed to meet the City’s state-mandated housing obligations. 

The City reaffirms its strong, demonstrated commitment to affordable housing and to meeting the housing needs of the community. In its land use planning, the City has sought to meet and exceed its share of the regional housing need and to do so in a manner that embraces adopted General Plan policies and good planning principles. Underlying the Shelby lawsuit is an implicit argument that the City is anti-housing. The City forcefully rebuts those assertions.

Some facts about the City’s commitment to housing:   

• The City has a solid track record of successful housing development, including over 1,300 units in the last housing cycle (2015-2023), significantly more than any other jurisdiction in southern Santa Barbara County. As two recent examples:
• The Heritage Ridge project, with 332 units, including 100 deed-restricted, below market rate units, is currently under construction near Los Carneros Rd. 

• The 60-unit Buena Tierra Homekey motel conversion and transitional housing project was recently completed at Fairview and Hollister Ave.

• The City has consistently gone above and beyond to address the region’s housing needs. As the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) has officially recognized, the City of Goleta’s certified Housing Element plans for housing capacity that exceeds the City’s share of the regional housing need by over 1,300 units. The City conservatively demonstrated over 2,600 units of residential capacity, far exceeding the City’s state-mandated allocation of 1,837 units. 

As demonstrated by these housing efforts, the City understands the community’s need for different housing stock, especially affordable housing, and has generated significant housing units while staying true to its local guiding principles.

The City will be scheduling an opportunity for the City Council to meet in Closed Session to consider next steps.

Aerial map