Buellton City Council overturns Planning Commission’s denial of Waldorf school project

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Less than an acre in size, a vacant sliver of Dairyland Road in Buellton bookended the month of July for city officials who couldn’t agree on a private school proposed for the site.

During its July 3 meeting, the Buellton Planning Commission voted on back-to-back motions for the Hundred Hills School project’s approval or denial, which both failed 2-2. Without a consensus, city policy mandated that no action was taken, which counts as a project denial. 

The Buellton City Council recently overturned that ruling at its July 24 meeting, with a 3-1 vote; Mayor David Silva dissented.

“I would say that this has probably been the most torn I’ve ever felt on a position. I don’t think I’ve ever heard as much public input,” Silva said at the hearing, following more than 40 speakers who participated in public comment.

“[There’s] a lot of people living next to this site really concerned about it,” Silva continued. “I am trying to be mindful of that when walking through the neighborhoods and talking with everyone.”

Some opponents of the project—a privately funded, four-classroom campus for preschool through eighth grade that could accommodate a maximum of 50 students—argued to preserve the city-owned site as an open space for the community, while others were open to developing some kind of public use there in the future.

“Let me be clear. This is not a debate about education. We can all support early learning without sacrificing public trust. What this is about is fairness,” public speaker Katie Hawk said. “It’s about protecting a shared asset that belongs to every Buellton resident.”

Hawk said she lives two houses away from the project site, which husband and wife Sundeep and Whitney Chanana plan to rent from the city—with a five-year lease—and build their proposed Waldorf school.

“I’m here tonight because public land should serve the public good. Not private interests, not exclusive access, but all of us,” Hawk continued. “Leasing this, … public asset purchased with taxpayer dollars to a high-tuition private preschool may seem like a quick solution, but it sets a dangerous precedent. If this is approved, the message is loud and clear: Public land is available to the highest bidder, not protected for the highest good. … I urge you, don’t settle for a short-term solution dressed up as a feel-good project.”

While Councilmember Hudson Hornick supported leasing the site to the Waldorf project, he said he would like to see a long-term plan to revert it back to open space in the future.

“I think that letting a Waldorf school take roots here would be a fantastic addition to Buellton. … We have a big need for preschools,” Hornick said. “Having said all of that, I love the green space. I love the open space. I don’t want it to go away. … It’s a concern. To me, that is mitigated by the fact that it’s a five-year lease.”

Applicant Sundeep Chanana described the project as a way for the city to “collect fair market value rent, connection fees, and monthly service fees” on a property that’s been idle for more than five years, “all the while buying residents time to finally reach consensus on what to do on that site.” 

This article appears in Jul 31 – Aug 10, 2025.