Plans call for town homes and live-work units, along with a community area for events, community garden and fitness center

By Joshua Molina, Noozhawk Staff Writer | @JECMolina | Published on 07.28.2015 7:07 p.m

Goleta could soon be home to a 175-unit mixed-use project in Old Town, as the Planning Commission Monday night voted 4-0 to allow the project to move forward.

Commissioner Katie Maynard recused herself from the vote because she lives in the area.

“It will be a wonderful project for Old Town,” Planning Commission Chairman Eric Onnen said.

“It provides needed workforce housing and some new commercial space via the shopkeepers’ units.”

The Old Town Village Project plans call for 113 town homes, 34 live-work town homes, 28 shopkeeper town homes, a community center and other park amenities.

The 12.31-acre project, proposed by developer City Ventures, is located on vacant land west of South Kellogg Avenue and Kellogg Way.

The city of Goleta also plans to extend Ekwill Street through to the project.

The units range from 1,850 to 2,103 square feet, some with ground floor commercial space attached.

The development would also include 489 parking spaces for vehicles and 56 bicycle parking spots.

The project also includes a community area with a community room, fitness center, kitchen and restrooms, in addition to a pocket park, community garden, space for local market and artisan events, and a Village Center for entertainment, community events and social gatherings.

In addition to approving the development plan, the commission voted to have the City Council and the developer consider reducing the maximum size of some of the buildings, from 35 feet down to 25 feet high which is the current zoning limit for that area of town.

The commission took a separate vote on that, which passed 3-1, with Commissioner Brent Daniels in opposition.

Lisa Plowman, planning manager for RRM Design Group, the architect on the project, said the development is needed for Goleta.

“We were very pleased to see that the Planning Commission whole heartedly agreed that this project will benefit the community and Old Town by providing much needed entry level, for sale housing for the local work force and office space for small entrepreneurial enterprises,” Plowman said.

— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com . Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.