A local manufacturer is proposing that Santa Barbara County rezone some land in Orcutt, with support from a few surrounding property owners in the area.
Steve Penza—owner of Famcon Pipe and Supply in Santa Maria—intends to buy 4 acres on Founders Avenue, despite his project’s incompatibility with some parts of the Orcutt Community Plan—developed during the 1990s.
The site Penza is eyeing is located in Key Site 33, designated as a highway commercial zone (CH)—which project consultant David Swenk described as an “antiquated zoning designation that’s disappearing throughout the county,” during the county Planning Commission’s April 12 meeting.
“Thirty years ago was a whole other world,” Swenk said. “The Orcutt Community Plan was passed before my kids were even born, and they’re long gone from the home.”
During a presentation about Penza’s proposal, Swenk argued that the CH zone designation has prevented businesses in the past from using the site Penza intends to buy, and it hasn’t been beneficial for surrounding entities either, including Polished Pet on Highway 101 and Santa Maria Foursquare Church on Founders Avenue.
Swenk noted that the Santa Maria Foursquare Church’s property has been listed for sale for a while, but the church’s owners “can’t find anybody willing to buy” due to restrictions of highway commercial zoning.
One restriction enforced by the zoning designation is a rule against constructing outdoor storage facilities. Penza’s plan to relocate his piping business to Orcutt would include the construction of a 40,000-square-foot uncovered outdoor storage area for piping materials.
This led Penza to request a general plan amendment and application to rezone the Key Site 33 area in question to a general commercial zone (C-3).
“All the uses that are in the CH are also allowable uses in the C-3, so we’re not taking away from the intent of the CH designation in the Orcutt Community Plan,” Swenk said.
Parcels located near the Elks Unocal Event Center in Key Site 33 were zoned as CH in order to attract businesses like hotels and restaurants to the area, which would in turn “support commercial uses associated with the Elks rodeo facilities,” according to the county Planning Commission’s staff report.
“We still could have gas stations and motels that could potentially go into that zone district, but this [C-3 zoning] allows a lot more flexibility,” Swenk said.
In a letter to support Penza’s proposal, Tim Mossholder, lead pastor at Santa Maria Foursquare Church, wrote that “rezoning would be beneficial as it would open up greater possibilities for a potential buyer” of the church’s property.
Swenk said that the project has received support from other property owners in the area, including the owners of Polished Pet and the Ikola property.
By the end of its April 12 meeting, the county Planning Commission greenlit Penza’s application process to move forward. Penza’s project—including the general plan amendment request—will be brought back before the commission at a later date.
—Caleb Wiseblood
This article appears in Strawberry Festival Guide 2023.
