The dust has finally settled for Los Alamos: The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted the Los Alamos Community Plan on Feb. 15.
“We believe that this plan is a roadmap for years to come,” Los Alamos Planning Advisory Committee chairman Chris Wrather said during the hearing’s public comment period.
The board added a minor change, though, which would add efforts of increasing the broadband speed of the community’s Internet.
“Right now, it’s maxed out for connections,” supervising project planner David Lackie said. “There is no effort by a provider to expand the network. It’s a strain for the community and future expansion of development.”
During the Board of Supervisors meeting, when the plan was approved, the possibility of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) subsidizing broadband connections in rural towns was mentioned.
However, the FCC hasn’t ensured that this will happen yet, and Lackie said he’s planning to look into the effort.
In the updated plan, “buildout” is allowed to increase from 248,515 square feet of commercial, industrial, and public institutional development to 1,028,616 square feet. In addition, 1,321 residential units will be allotted for buildout from 649 units.
The plan focuses on encouraging growth within the city rather than expanding its urban boundaries. The inward growth, according to county staff reports, will allow the preservation of surrounding agricultural lands.
According to the report, a survey conducted during the update found the community of Los Alamos noticed “a lack of desired neighborhood retail and commercial services (e.g. a moderate size grocery store, drug store, medical offices, and other professional services).”
“Most of the plan’s focus is to rezone the downtown. The core emphasis is to change restraints,” Lackie said. The changes are designed to create incentives for expanded commercial growth.
Although regulations on zoning and permitting put a damper on developments on the town prior to the community update, businesses are not likely to thrive without a unique, visitor-friendly environment. So, to avoid a loss of visitors to the town, Los Alamos will steer clear of any development that will affect the Western feel.
Small retail and offices are what Lackie expects to move into the town. The zoning won’t allow anything like a big-box retailer.
In addition to encouraging growth in Los Alamos, the community plan also contains what Lackie called “a wish-list.” One item on the list is a library. However, the reality of building the library lies on the shoulders of what grants are available, he said.
The plan has some action options available when development occurs, to avoid any future problems.
“Each project will have a menu of options,” Lackie said.
One issue that is being approached is water conservation.
Developments will be able to choose from a toilet retrofit program, or the use of cisterns or tanks that will collect rainfall water for landscape irrigation. In addition, there is the choice of initiating a gray water system that will also provide landscape irrigation. The water programs were created to avoid any more over-drafting of the San Antonio Ground Water Basin.
However, existing residents are not subject to conform to the options.
Construction of new low-income housing is planned to take place in Los Alamos as well, which the Board of Supervisors hopes will increase the number of school children in the Los Alamos School District. The plan places the high-density housing in the northwest section of town.
The plan also calls for alternative means of transportation so the town can be pedestrian friendly. Bikes and walking in the downtown are encouraged. The update says that the Santa Barbara County Public Works Department will partner with CalTrans to make this happen, by implementing wider sidewalks, crosswalks, more streetlights, and a calmer traffic pattern.
The public seemed pleased with the community’s new blueprint at the Board of Supervisors’ Feb. 15 meeting.
“It’s government at its best,” one person commented.
However, Charlie Gonzales, owner of Charlie’s Mexican and American Restaurant in Los Alamos, who also put together the first Los Alamos Community Plan, is still a bit skeptical about the plan’s commitment to easing the permit process.
“People don’t realize how long it takes [to get a permit],” he said. “A friend of mine was trying to get a building permit and it took him six years to get it. That’s the reason why no one wants to invest in Santa Barbara County.
“I’ll have to see it to believe it,” he said about the plan making development easier.
Development within Los Alamos is tricky, though, because it’s a special problem area—due to flooding. During review, a project must undergo evaluation by six to eight departments.
However, regarding the overall plan, Gonzales said he is “happy with it. I think [Chris] Wrather did a good job.”
Contact Intern Henry Houston at intern@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Mar 3-10, 2011.