Richards Ranch sure has a bee in its bonnet about 4th District Santa Barbara County Supervisor Bob Nelson.
For the third meeting in a row, the development’s attorney, Beth Collins, has accused the county and Nelson of doing shady things in processing the two concurrent applications for the same project—one that aims to annex 58 acres of Orcutt into Santa Maria for water purposes and one that aims to process the same project strictly in the county.
The first time Collins brought it up was at a Santa Barbara County Planning Commission meeting a couple of months ago. That time, she merely alluded to a supervisor meddling, alleging that the county was treating Richards Ranch differently than other developers.
The second was just last month at a Board of Supervisors meeting, when the county’s board—including Nelson—gave the project a green light to continue moving forward.
The third meeting was during the first full week of May, when Collins requested that the county’s Local Agency Formation Commission, which will eventually vote on whether to annex the land in question, bar Nelson from participating. The request came after Richards Ranch sued the county over the way it processed the development’s application, alleging that Nelson was actively campaigning against the project and meddling in the way that the county processed the application.
Wow. Richards Ranch really doesn’t like Nelson.
In all my years of twittering about county drama, this is a first!
It sucks when you’re trying to push a project through the county’s planning process, in general. I would imagine it’s even harder when you’re trying to wage a not-so-silent war against one of the people who will be deciding on that project—and that person happens to be the representative for the district in which you are trying to develop.
Seems like Richards Ranch and its developer, Michael Stoltey, have really made their own lives difficult.
Rather than focusing on one application, it has two. Each in a different jurisdiction, with different staff and different rules. The projects are also different, with different numbers of housing units and commercial amenities.
Rather than working with the county, it seems as if Stoltey, Collins, and whoever else is invested in the project are actively working against the county, accusing county staff and an elected official of impropriety.
Then, after the project got approval from the county’s governing board, which the elected official sits on, Richards Ranch sued the county, rehashing all of its gripes with the process, seeking redress, and demanding to move forward with the project under state housing laws.
What?
I’m so confused. Isn’t that what’s already happening?
Or is this whole thing about annexation? Annexation was mentioned in the lawsuit, and LAFCO hadn’t even discussed the project yet. It was scheduled for discussion a week after Richards Ranch filed its lawsuit. So, was the lawsuit filed to get Nelson kicked off LAFCO?
If annexation is the ultimate goal, why try for two projects? Why waste county taxpayer dollars and developer dollars? Why go through the whole process twice?
Who’s shady?
The canary has a knack for throwing shade. Send some to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in May 15-25, 2025.
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