A 99-unit affordable housing development could soon be going up on the corner of Foster and Morning Ridge Roads in Orcutt.
Some neighbors, including the president of the Edgewood HOA, say they aren’t happy with the plans.
“Well, I was very distressed because I know it is going to add traffic. We already have major traffic on Morning Ridge,” said Katherine Davis, who lives down the street from the project site.
Last week, the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission unanimously approved the project, which is just a short walk away from Righetti and St. Joseph High Schools.
James Brenneman, president of the neighborhood HOA, feels the arrival of more than 100 residents and their vehicles could hinder safety.
“A lot of high school students walk to school, and they are going to have to walk across Foster, and they are going to have to cross Morning Ridge Road in a lot of cases to get out and go across Union Valley Parkway,” he explained.
While a few neighbors told KSBY they were glad to see more affordable living options coming to the area, many others like Constance van Belleghem believe the project is too large for the property.
“There is plenty of land where people can develop, and they are taking all these small pockets and throwing in a mass amount of people,” she said.
Right now, the project site is home to a charter school, which county leaders say would be demolished if the housing development receives final approval.
The plan also calls for the addition of 135 parking spaces to accompany the housing units. Still, Brenneman fears future tenant vehicles could spill into neighborhood streets.
“We just cannot believe that they would do that and that it would make any sense at all,” he said.
County officials add that while 100% of the units would be set aside for low-income earners, they do not have current data on what the price range may look like.
Meanwhile, Davis says if the project gets final approval and is constructed, “I am probably going to sell my property or rent it out.”
Now that the Planning Commission has approved the project, it will go before the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors before construction can get started.
We also reached out to the project applicant, AMG Land Development, for comment on the concerns brought up by neighbors, but we did not get a response before our deadline.
