After multiple postponements and several meetings’ worth of discussion, the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission decided on Feb. 11 to let the Board of Supervisors have the final say on the potential construction of a hotel and resort in Lompoc.
The Hunter/La Purisima Resort project calls for the construction of an 80-room resort, restaurant, spa facility, and 85 clustered residential units next to La Purisima Golf Course off Highway 246 in Lompoc.
To make the jump from proposed plan to physical construction, the project requires a board-approved amendment to the county’s general plan, which would change the property’s land-use designation from agriculture to resort/visitor-serving commercial.
That potential change, however, has agriculturists and environmentalists worried that such approval would open the county’s doors to increased urban sprawl that would spread through traditionally open-space and ag-friendly communities.
This required change, coupled with public disfavor, could spell disaster for the project.
“I don’t think the new board would be at all receptive to the project, and I think it’s tragic,” 4th District Supervisor Joni Gray told the Sun in a previous interview “The Lompoc community and Santa Maria Valley wine trail need a place to support their expansion.”
The project’s scheduled appearance before the Board of Supervisors had yet to be announced as of press time.
This article appears in Feb 19-26, 2009.