More Mesa Worries
More Mesa preservationists were taken aback when the Saudi Arabian real estate firm that bought the 265-acre bluff-top property two years ago hired the same team that had previously worked on a plan — that ultimately failed — to preserve 85 percent of the area while constructing 38 homes. Last week, the team — consultant group Dudek along with developer Jack Theimer, Kim Kimbell, and attorney Richard Monk — took issue with the interpretation of zoning codes in the Goleta Community Plan, arguing 82 units instead of 70 could be built on the property. The group said they have no immediate intentions to build. Any plans would have to go through environmental review.