Citing the South Coast’s critical shortage of workforce housing and leaping at the chance to breathe new life into Old Town, the Goleta City Council on Tuesday approved a 175-unit mixed-use development for a farm field just below Hollister Avenue.
The 3-2 split vote came after significant debate over adding yet another project to what’s recently felt like a nonstop assembly line of new construction in the small city. Neighbors arrived in force to express anxiety that the Old Town Village will suck up water and spit out traffic, and they worried the council is sacrificing the character of their beloved community.
“This is not the way we were supposed to be,” said one 35-year resident. “We don’t want to be L.A.; we want to be the Goodland.” “I feel like Goleta’s soul has been sold to the devil,” added another neighbor. “What you call housing I call an out-of-control urban nightmare.”
