State Sends Goleta a ‘Do It Again’ Letter on Housing

California is pushing hard to add housing among its cities and counties, and Goleta recently received a letter stating its draft Housing Element submitted in June needed a re-do. This holds the potential for open development within the city without the protections of city permit rules, but only if Goleta misses the deadline to resubmit the report. Planning Director Peter Imhof said his planners were on track to get the augmented information through city approvals and to the state before the due date of February 15, 2023.

Back in June, Goleta officials were feeling pleased they’d submitted their Housing Element fairly early in the process. The 11-page letter they received in September from the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), however, listed many additional details that the state wanted. 

In Goleta’s case, the state was wary of “nonvacant” sites — lots with obsolete uses, like a long-vacant building, blighted areas, and other underutilized land — wanting to know more about “age of structures, size of lots, existing uses, environmental constraints, and further justification regarding the residential development potential,” Imhof explained. Other comments asked for details, for instance, about areas targeted for new housing: were they buildable, which developers expressed interest, and what are estimated construction costs?