Santa Maria Planning Commission approves Sears remodel for incoming grocery store

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Boarded up since early 2020, the shuttered, former home of Sears in Santa Maria is due for a makeover in the eyes of its owner and some city officials.

During its April 16 meeting, the Santa Maria Planning Commission approved a permit for a proposed remodel of the empty two-story building attached to the Santa Maria Town Center. 

If the plan meets City Council approval, the site will be retrofitted to accommodate a full-service grocery store on its first floor and new retail spaces on the second.

Planning Commissioner Yasameen Mohajer said she’s “looking forward to how much life it’s going to bring to that corner.” Planning Commissioner Esau Blanco agreed.

“It’s definitely going to make that area look much nicer,” Blanco said. “It’s going to … basically bring life to an area that right now is completely dead.”

While grocery market chain El Super will occupy the building’s lower level, the upper level will be divided into a handful of units for separate retail tenants. 

Retailers for those units haven’t been selected yet, but they may benefit from a proposed incentive, which is awaiting City Council approval. It would allow incoming businesses on the building’s second floor to bypass individual hearings before the City Council to speed up their development.

The project’s downtown permit includes an incentive for the city as well. The applicant, Shasta 2020 LP, agreed to either build a new bus stop and bus pad outside of the building or pay an in-lieu fee to fund both.

City staff made this request based on studies tied to the remodel, Santa Maria Principal Civil Engineer Mark Mueller explained at the Planning Commission’s April 16 meeting.

Mueller said that the project’s traffic study and recent bus ridership data suggest that adding a grocery store to the Santa Maria Town Center would lead to a 50 percent increase in bus ridership on one of the city’s main routes.

“This site is a grocery store located in what’s essentially a food desert. The nearest grocery store is a mile away,” Mueller said. “People will be relying on transit to get to this location if they’re non-ambulatory, if they can’t drive themselves. 

“I would say that this is a proportional impact and request to make of this development,” Mueller said.

With a 5-0 vote, the Planning Commission approved the project’s downtown permit, which will move to the City Council for final approval. 

This article appears in Apr 24 – May 4, 2025.