Wildwood in Solvang is getting wild before it’s even got roots in the ground.
The proposed 100-unit, multi-family, two-story apartment and condo development is running into ye ol’ “we want development, we just want it to be the right kind of development.” Which is code for “This development is going to bring in people who don’t have as much money as us.”
With a gated community close by raising red flags—the Mission Oaks Homeowners Association—and a newly formed nonprofit—the Santa Ynez Valley Citizens Council—worried that Solvang is going to become “Anytown, USA,” these residents are raising a stink in the valley.
“This area is unique, it’s precious, it’s a place where people come because it’s so special,” Michelle Neels with the council said. “If we start to allow development that hurts that feel, that charm, then we become Anytown, USA.”
Would Anytown allow for a multi-unit apartment building while the Santa Ynez Valley and Solvang shouldn’t? One hundred condos and apartments on a 5.3-acre parcel of land would hurt the feel of money—that’s what I’m gathering from Neels’ statements.
People also seem to be thinking that Solvang just ramrodded this project through the planning process and development is imminent! Well, it’s not. The project is still very much in the planning stages with many hoops yet to jump through.
The developer, Josh Richman, seems to be doing his darndest to accommodate the Mission Oaks folks, even going to far as to change the architectural scheme of the project to “more of a contemporary ranch theme.” Was the “gated community in the hills of wine country” theme too much of a reach?
In Lompoc, having six meetings a year was too much of a reach for its Public Safety Commission, which sometimes doesn’t even have enough commissioners at its meetings to even have a meeting. Not only that, the public isn’t involved enough, according to Police Chief Kevin Martin.
The answer to the conundrum is to cut the number of meetings each year in half and move them into community spaces outside of City Hall. And Lompoc City Councilmember Dirk Starbuck, who I almost never agree with, seemed to be a voice of reason. I know! Where are the flying pigs?
Starbuck said he’d spoken with a couple of commissioners who said attendance was an issue.
“Their frustration is the fact that they are never able to have a meeting because they are never able to have a quorum,” Starbuck said. “That could be faulted to the council because the appointees are not making meetings as they promised to.”
Yeah. And why would residents mark their calendar for a meeting that may not be able to happen in the first place? They wouldn’t.
This commission that makes recommendations to the City Council about police, fire, and emergency services is inconsistent. Perhaps appointees are the place to point fingers.
The first order of business isn’t necessarily public participation, as Starbuck astutely pointed out. The first order of business is consistency, as in the meetings must happen consistently. Without that, why are we complaining about citizens not attending? Seems like the pot’s calling the kettle black.
The Canary is into black kettles. Send one to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Oct 24 – Nov 3, 2024.