Developers Revise Housing Proposal for Tri-County Produce Site on Santa Barbara’s Eastside

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This article was underwritten in part by the Mickey Flacks Journalism Fund for Social Justice, a proud, innovative supporter of local news. To make a contribution go to sbcan.org/journalism_fund.

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The Tri-County Produce Housing Development project will see another round of revisions. At its September 3 meeting, the Santa Barbara Architectural Board of Review voted to continue its review of the property concept for 335 South Milpas Street.

The updated concept, which is incomplete, proposes a four-story residential building with 53 units, four of which would be allocated as very-low-income housing. This amended concept is a decrease from the 99 units, including 10 units of very low-income housing, originally put forward last year. The presented project would keep the existing Tri-County Produce in operation for most of construction as well as build a commercial expansion for the store of about 3,700 square feet. 

The project will make use of the state’s density bonus law. Originally enacted in 1979, the law allows developers to increase the density on a property, such as building more units, if some of the units are rented for below market rate. The density bonus amount is based on the percentage of affordable housing offered. Of the proposed units for 335 S. Milpas, 7.5 percent are currently slated as very-low-income housing, compared to the approximately 10 percent originally proposed.

Last year’s plans stated that Tri-County Produce employees would be eligible to live in the low-income units, but the recently presented plans do not make note of this possibility.

The revised plan comes after community members expressed concern at the project’s size and its impact on community traffic and noise. At Tuesday’s meeting, several boardmembers said this second iteration of designs improved last year’s concept. 

“[This] shows you guys have made massive concessions, and you really scaled it back significantly from what it was when it first came,” said boardmember Will Sofrin. 

The board did suggest how to reduce the building’s visible bulk and improve its curb appeal. 

The project’s planner Jarrett Gorin told the board that 355 South Milpas is an “SB 330 project.” SB 330, or the Housing Crisis Act, passed into law in 2019 and stops local agencies from blocking development projects for affordable housing. 

“The only way that the city could deny a project like this is basically to find that it poses a threat to health, safety, and welfare based on the existing adopted standard,” Gorin said. 

The 355 South Milpas property is owned in part by partners Austin Herlihy and Chris Parker of the real estate management firm Hot Springs Capital, as well as John Dixon, owner of the grocery store Tri-County Produce Company.