Close to 150 news homes could be built in the near future by the Rancho Maria Golf Club in Orcutt.
The housing development project is being led by the Orcutt Rancho LLC Group.
Residents in the surrounding area said they are not only worried about traffic, but they are also worried about the economic and environmental impacts.
“This development that they are proposing makes Rancho Maria just the worse place. It takes away a lot of the economic resources, it could possibly finish us off,” said General Manager for Rancho Maria Michael O’Keefe. “We might not make it through the construction because it changes the golf course from a rural setting into more of a housing community.”
Manager for the development Frances Romero said they have done everything needed to be in compliance with the county to make the process easier and more inclusive for everyone but that it hasn’t necessarily been reciprocated.
“The applicant has made some offers to the golf course about how to make sure they are not financially impacted during the construction,” said Romero. “We have tried to talk to our neighbors and basically, we were told they didn’t want to talk about things until after the EIR was out and quite frankly that is a little far down the road.”
There is still no word on how much these potential homes could cost, however, if the housing development does come to flourish it will bring jobs and revenue to the communities of Santa Maria and Orcutt.
An estimated $9 million alone in salaries and benefits.
