New Apartments Proposed in Goleta

A small, vacant lot at the Calle Real and Los Carneros roundabout in Goleta may soon hold 14 one-bedroom rentals in a project submitted by RRM Design Group under a pair of state Housing Accountability Act provisions. The mixed-use proposal for 6491 Calle Real sits at the southeast corner of the intersection and will also hold 585 square feet of commercial space. The project uses the Housing Accountability Act and Senate Bill 330 to increase the density at the half-acre lot and to go through the city process with no more than five public hearings, a press release from the city stated.

The project achieved its extra housing — amounting to 26.4 units per acre instead of the maximum 20 per acre normally allowed in Goleta — by meeting a 20 percent low-income standard. The deed-restricted inclusionary units are not counted in the density number. For the fraction remaining — the lot is 0.53 acres — the developer is to pay an in lieu fee to meet the inclusionary standard.

Sited across the roundabout from the Islamic Society, whose building is 35 feet tall, and up the street from the offices of the Santa Barbara CHP, the project will also have 20 parking spaces and a total of 16 bicycle spaces. The parking lot now on the plans would need to seek a waiver from the city’s “parking lot heat island” standards, which require either shade from trees or a light material on the ground.