Montecito Planning Commission Special Meeting

And if we could have our TV coverage announcement please.

today.

Thank you. The agenda status report please.

Good morning commissioners. Today we have one item for you that is the Biltmore Hotel Development Plan Amendment Project Very good. Thank you. Item six, the projection report. Great. It looks like we only have one item upcoming for you all that is on May 20th and that is a lot line adjustment project and nothing scheduled for June at this time.

Very good. Thank you. Public comment? The public comment period is set aside to allow public testimony on items not on today's agenda. The time allocated to each speaker will be set at the discretion of the chair. Total time allocated for public comment is 15 minutes when testifying before the Montecito Planning Commission, personal attacks and other disruptive behavior are not appropriate. Do we have any requests to speak?

We have no request online and seeing no one stand in the room I believe we have no public comment.

All right, the public comment period is closed. Item 7, the Planning Commissioner's Informational Reports. Individual commissioners may present brief reports on planning issues such as seminars, meetings and literature that would be of interest to the public and or the Commission as a whole. Do any of the commissioners have reports? No? All right. The minutes of February 18th, 2026 will be considered. Those were distributed along with the agenda for today's meeting. Are there any corrections to the minutes? No.

Motion would be in order to approve the minutes.

I'll move to approve the minutes.

Motion made and seconded. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed say no. Minutes are approved. Item 9, the Director's Report and Board of Supervisors Hearing Summary. The Director of Planning and Development is here with us this morning. Good morning.

Good morning Mr. Chair, members of the Commission. Happy April. I have a little duck on my screen that they've provided me. Isn't that nice? The miracle of computers. So I have a few things to report to you, we haven't met since February. The board has taken some actions that you'll be interested in the Arraya HIDAC appeal which was about the wall in Montecito along San Ysidro Creek that was denied by the board.

They had tried to work it out just in advance of the hearing but ultimately one of the appellants wanted have an opportunity to express some of their concerns and so they did but the board upheld the decision by the PC. And then on the 10th of March, the board adopted the environmental justice element They made a few minor modifications related to some areas in North County, particularly around Gary and the Sisquauk area.

And they also we had a hearing on cannabis odor abatement in the Carpinteria Valley. There was a request for extensions from eight of the growers to get an extension regarding the requirement to install odor abatement equipment Just like carbon filtration or photo catalytic oxidation those types of things that help reduce the odor in the interior of the greenhouses.

The board denied all of those extensions and so we are working with the growers now to with notices a violation and they're going to be working on getting that equipment installed. There's the potential for some of the growers to lose their license if they don't take action rather rapidly Future board items include our three year work program for the long range planning division.

And that's going to the board next week on the 7th of April. So if you're interested, you can watch the hearing or watch the tape. We have our budget workshops that are the week of the 13th through the 17th. Planning and development is on the 13. So if you're interested in watching that will be probably late morning on the 13 of April. We also have a local preference package going to the Board of Supervisors for housing on the 5th of May and it's sort of a joint hearing in that Community Services Department which oversees the capital A affordable or deed restricted affordable housing units is going to be taking changes to their inclusionary housing program and regarding many things but one of them is establishing a tiered system for local preference.

We have been able to find other jurisdictions that have Incorporated local preference for deed restricted units. We have not been able to locate a jurisdiction that successfully adopted one for market rate units, so what we are doing with the market rate units because this was a policy in our housing element for implementation was to look at the creation of a program Most people feel like if we're going to build a lot of housing, we'd like to see our local employees get those units rather than having people come in from the outside.

So what we discovered and what we are proposing is really requiring the developers to do a marketing plan that's targeted to locals. And so they're going to have to submit a plan to us laying out all the steps they'll be taking to reach out to the local businesses and families that are living in the community So they can have access to these units as quickly as possible. And that's kind of as far as we think we can go legally at this point.

It's not what we had hoped, but I mean, I think it's better than nothing. And hopefully we can work with the state to get some laws in place that will allow us to do a little bit more. But it's particularly challenged because there's federal fair housing laws And we want to make sure we're not resulting in some kind of discriminatory action. And we are going to the board also on the 5th of May with, I'm sorry, the local preference is going on the 21st, not if I said the fifth it's going on the 21s of April.

We have a briefing that we're taking to the board on the 5th of May regarding creating new ministerial permits. That means Following like most of the jurisdictions that we are comparable to, having permits that now are currently land use permits or coastal development permits that are appealable no longer be appealable. They will be truly ministerial permits for things like pools or fences and some single family homes So we are very unusual county in the number of appeals that we allow on certain types of development and the board has given us direction to downshift some of those permits to truly ministerial permits. So, we're going to the board with a briefing to make sure we're following the boards direction they think that we're going in the right And that's all I have to report.

So, I'm happy to answer any questions.

Is the Board of Supervisors decision on the San Ysidro Creek wall, was that the wall fronting Jameson? Like which, which decision was that?

That was for the promised land property. Laurel Perez was representing that property.

Right right okay so that means they overrode the Montecito Planning Commission.

They upheld your decision so the wall is approved.

Thank you.

Good any other questions? Thank you and nice to see you.

Nice to see you too.

All right moving on to item 10, waive public hearing.

So this item is on your agenda as a supplemental noticing there's no action for the Commission to take today.

All right moving on to Item 11 the standard agenda Item one is the public hearing on the 1260 BB property LLC development plan amendment.

All right, I'll read that into the record The following is a hearing on the request of 1260 BB property LLC, property owner and applicant to consider case the following case numbers 25 AMD 11 as well 26 CDP 24 and to determine the project is exempt from CEQA pursuant to state CEQAs guideline sections 15301-15303. All right. And the staff report will be presented by

Henry Wacomiya.

I'm sorry, say that again. Before we staff begins this presentation it might be best to if we go over ex parte declarations.

Very good all right do any of the commissioners have any ex parte disclosures that they wish to share with the other commissioners and the public?

None.

No. All right

We just walked by.

OK, well yes I think we've all walked by the site. All right anything else before we begin with the staff report? All right

you're on. Appreciate that. Good morning commissioners my name is Henry Wacomia and today I am presenting the proposed Biltmore Hotel development plan amendment This slide shows an aerial image of the Biltmore Hotel, which is located at 1260 Channel Drive in the coastal zone of the Montecito Community Plan area. The Biltmore Hotel is located on three separate properties as shown in red and is zoned Resort Visitor Serving Commercial.

The Biltmore Hotel is operated in its current location since 1927. The site is fully developed for resort visitor-serving commercial use and has a variety of incidental uses such as pools, spas, dining facilities, retail spaces and more. Since it was established the Biltmore Hotel property has been altered and improved through various entitlements and currently operates under a development plan.

The hotel property is currently under construction for improvements approved by the Montecito Planning Commission in October 2024 In September 2025, the applicant submitted an application for an amendment to the development plan to allow physical improvements including minor changes to existing facilities and the construction of new small structures and improvements within the Hill Road right-of-way.

The following slides will describe the improvements in greater detail. This slide shows the Biltmore Hotel with the area outlined in red showing the extent of where the proposed project is located. The proposed project is for improvements at the Biltmore Hotel and within the Hill Road right-of-way. This includes construction of six new gated driveways, shown in red.

The driveways will provide access to 20 total new parking spaces. This includes 16 uncovered parking spaces, shown in green, and the conversion of one guest room in both Cottage G and Cottage H into two car garages, shown in yellow. The project also proposes improvements within the Hill Road right-of way, shown This includes the construction of new sidewalk, curb and gutter along the south side of Hill Road.

And the relocation of 32 existing on-street parking spaces from the south side of Hill Road to the north side as well as the realignment of the travel lanes. The proposed project is consistent with all applicable comprehensive plan policies including the Montecito Community Plan and Coastal Land Use Plan Additionally, it is compliant with all applicable standards in the Article 2 Coastal Zoning Ordinance.

In the next few slides I will discuss some of the key issue areas and policy consistency. Policies related to aesthetics and visual resources require that the project is consistent with the scale and character of the community and that coastal views are protected. The project is consistent with these policies as the project includes minor alterations to existing cottages which will not alter the existing footprint or roofline. Proposed gates are less than six feet in height and landscaping will sufficiently screen the proposed parking areas.

The project is located toward the rear of the property where there are no coastal views. The project is sited appropriately and will not significantly alter any landforms, and the site is flat and fully developed. The project was reviewed by the Montecito Board of Architectural Review where they stated that they're supportive of the project and can return for preliminary and final review.

Policies related to historic resources require that projects avoid impacts to cultural sites and to protect and preserve sensitive historic resources. The project is consistent with these policies as the proposed improvements are consistent with standard requirements for protection of historic resources. Policies related to traffic require that adequate services and resources are available to serve the project.

And it must be consistent with the roadway and intersection standards. The project is consistent with these policies because there will be no significant impacts to traffic or parking. County Public Works Transportation Division has reviewed the project and approved a design exception to approve driveway locations with number of access points and gate locations.

Design exceptions are only approved if it is determined that the proposed exceptions will not result in any roadway hazards. The project is for minor physical improvements that will not alter the hotel's traffic demand. Additionally, the project increases the number of onsite Biltmore Hotel parking spaces and retains the same number of on-street public parking spaces.

The project is categorically exempt from environmental review pursuant to CEQA guidelines sections for existing facilities and for new construction or conversion of small structures. The project qualifies as it consists of minor changes to existing facilities and the construction of new small structures, including gated driveways, parking areas, sidewalk, curb, gutter and landscaping improvements.

In summary, the proposed project is for a development plan amendment to allow minor physical improvements to the Biltmore Hotel and within the Hill Road right-of-way. The project is consistent with all applicable policies and is compliant with all applicable standards. Additionally, the project is exempt from CEQA and will not result in any significant impacts.

With that, staff recommends that the commission take action to make the required findings for approval of the project including CEQF findings, determine the project is exempt from CEQFA and approve the project subject to the conditions of approval as modified by the memorandum dated March 31st, 2026. Thank you for your time and staff is available to answer any questions you may have.

Are there questions from the commission?

No. I have one question and that's regarding moving the on street parking from this south side of the street basically across the street has there been any feedback from homeowners that are adjacent to or near the Biltmore? Regarding those changed parking

spots. Commissioner Kearns through the chair, we did our standard noticing on this project so it went out to homeowners in the nearby vicinity of the hotel and I spoke with a few property owners but none had any negative feedback regarding the project or anything specific in relation to the relocation of parking spaces from the south side to the north side of Hill Road.

Excellent, and will this change in parking affect any of the sight lines? There's a lot of sight line issues on Hill Road have those all been considered?

Yes so as I mentioned County Public Works has reviewed the proposal and approved a design exception and in that they review sight lines and things of that nature And a design exception can only be approved if there are no potential hazards associated with the project. I believe,

is he available? No. Will Robinson's not quite on yet but this was most important part of that design exception was looking at these sight lines because of the way the road turns and adding all the cutouts so Public Works

thoroughly

reviewed

this. To add onto that as well landscaping within Those sight lines can only be a certain height and things of that nature so that everything can be appropriately seen and safe.

Thank you, I appreciate your explanation.

Just a couple of questions. Are all 32 of the parking spaces that are being relocated within the stretch that sort of runs between the two pieces of the Biltmore's property or are there any residential homes on that backside? where the parking will be relocated.

Commissioner Rockenbach through the chair, as you can see on the screen so the parking is that on the north side that's been relocated and it's adjacent only to Biltmore owned properties. It is not adjacent to any private homeowner properties.

Okay and then one additional question What is the variance that's being requested for the distance from the middle of the street or the driveways?

So to clarify, or just to clarify a modification is being requested as it is allowed by an amendment to a development plan to allow some of the parking shown in green and yellow to be located within the front setback of Hill Road and that is consistent with other parking on the property. So it is at your, at the Commission's discretion to make a decision on that but as described in the staff reports the project is consistent with standards and policies And it will be appropriately screened from public view.

But that's not a separate action that needs to be taken, it's just part of the project as a whole.

Okay and the setback is the red dotted line?

Correct

Other questions I think there are no others. Thank you for your report. We have the applicant who wishes to speak. I have a speaker slip from Mark Lloyd. Welcome, Mr.

Lloyd. My name is Mark Lloyd of L&P Consultants. And I have with me Ms. Jessie Richardson from Appleton Associates as the architectural team, Ginger Anderson from the Brownstein firm and owner representative Sean Lovell. Due to Henry's thorough presentation and respecting your time, I'll make a brief but hopefully informative presentation for you. David, next slide please.

So here's an overall look at the preliminary grading plan, which generally shows all the improvements that we're proposing to do. Next slide please, David. As Henry pointed out, the project consists of widening or reconstructing parts of the south side of Hill Road and generally removing a concrete gutter and installing new curb gutter standard sidewalk driveway aprons and on-site parking Pursuant to Commissioner Rochenbach's question to Henry, I think I'd clarify that a little bit more.

The setback, I believe, that you were talking about is the setback for the driveway depth. And technically we are seeking a modification for that. There is a commercial zone requirement that that driveway depth be 30 feet. That requirement is basically constructed around the need to have commercial truck traffic and access As you can see here, we have a wide commercial driveway that goes to the site. This is our so-called back of house. This is where all our commercial trucks enter and exit the property and make deliveries. And these driveways here meet the residential 25 foot standard and they are to be restricted to the use Automobiles and other guest vehicles, not any commercial trucks. I think that's more addressing your concern. Moving on, we do not have that depth problem for these two driveways.

These are conversions of existing guest rooms. And H, where originally garages were later converted to guest rooms. And we're converting them back in order to have two garage parking for both of those units. Next slide please, David. And again going through the improvements, we have these open parking spaces here. The blue line is a right-of-way line. The dashed line is the setback line. And our project request includes a modification for parking in that front setback.

Moving on, David. And here's the last slide here of our parking between units N and P or bungalows N and P. We're also making some additional improvements to this intersection here for better street circulation. As you can see, the parking spaces are all aligned in the street here. These are standard parking spaces that have the nominal design standard width and length versus the somewhat informal parking that's on this outside. Moving on, David?

So I thought that a photographic montage that I prepared here would be very informative. So let's go through this quickly, David. So this gives you an idea of the street. Here is our back-of-house entry that I just described to you. You can see the street scene here, red curbs, improved sidewalk and curb and gutter on this side, Biltmore parking lot back here. Next slide please.

Continuing on, you could see the street improvements here. We're not proposing much changes here. We're reconstructing this catch basin to make it a little larger to take in the new stormwater calculations that we need to adhere to, see on the south side, the concrete gutter we're going to remove and that pavement. Next slide please. Again, a better view of the south side improvement. So what the improvements are going to do here is it's going to remove pavement and this concrete and this pavement out to here, remove this IV fence and IV coverage here. And then we're going to widen the street, have new curb and gutter here, new concrete sidewalk. And then we'll come out and put a new overlay on the street here as we move this stripe over a little bit as we put the park into the south.

This stripe moves about eight feet. We would cap this area so that you get a ridge or high point along the stripe here, so it meets all county public roadway standards. Next slide please. And again we're just coming down the street here. This is into the tennis court area. We're starting to get into that. Next slide please. Into the tennis court crossing area, our first entry there. I believe those are pickable now. Next slide please.

And this goes down to we're starting to hit the tennis courts here. You can see the meandering sidewalk coming through. Next slide, please. Here we start showing you sort of the irregular condition here. Although there's 32 parking spaces down there, they're quite irregular. They're quite a mishmash in sizes and whatnot. You can see they're very informal not to any standards at all. Next slide, please.

Again another replication of that. These are not standard sizes. And this is the end of our improvement. This tree will come out. We have a curb return that transitions to our new curb and gutter back like this. Next slide, please. This shows you where our driveway entries are going to go in. As you saw from the grading plan there's six of them. Next slide, please. Again another entry there. Next slide, please.

Another entry here quite overgrown. Next slide, please. And these are our parking entry. This shows you the on-site parking spaces as they exist now. And so we're going to move to the residential side, but I wanted to point out some what we think are benefits of this project. Number one, you know, we're moving the parking to the north side and again those are going to be more standard spaces and in fact I think they're not gonna be striped but they'll allow probably more parking than we have now. We think that benefits the coastal policies for coastal access purposes.

You have a curb and sidewalk that's along the north side We are going to install curb and sidewalk along the south side. So we're actually increasing public access to coastal resources with that. Another thing that we think is a benefit is obviously, we have our 20 on-site parking spaces. We have found that as visitors have occupied the bungalow structures, as they start understanding they're over on that side of the resort, they don't necessarily all check into to the valet parking and they end up perhaps parking along this area and cannibalizing what would be otherwise public spots. So our on-site parking we think is going to alleviate that where people will have parking just right at their units, it'll be very much more convenient for them.

Another positive aspect we think of this design here is that it is reminiscent and characteristic of the residential neighborhoods that are further to the west. You know, with driveway openings and the bungalows become very much of a single family look which Jesse will get into a little bit more. So we think that we're complementing and actually enhancing public access, coastal access for the public, creating a better parking situation, creating a more safe driving and traffic situation. As Henry mentioned, we went through a design exemption of which all of the site angles were studied very much in detail.

And Jesse will go over the landscaping part of that. So with that I will turn this over to Jesse to go through the landscaping elements.

Thank you, commissioners and chair. David this is one of the slides where I might need your help zooming in if we could start on the upper right hand side will briefly Right hand side, other side. Thank you. We'll just briefly pan through this so this is a rendering showing the proposed landscape improvements to accommodate the view triangles, the new curb cuts for the driveways and those new gates. So starting on the far right that open space is that existing commercial drive for the back of house and then just panning on to the left you'll see the proposed gates at each of the bungalows E, G, H.

G and H are the two that we're proposing to convert a guest room to garage. And then David if we could just continue slowly moving. As was mentioned in the view triangles all fencing is limited to 42 inches in height and all planting is limited to 36 inches in height. Trees are exempt but must be limbed up to accommodate those view triangles so this rendering shows the proposed layering of the landscape to both maintain privacy for these bungalow units but also accommodate those view site triangles as you approach or exit these new driveways.

Here you see the existing fire lane access that will be maintained and then just continuing on to the east, the parking at Bungalows N and P and then the easternmost bungalow here Q is where we approach Olive Mill Road as it turns into Channel Drive I think we can go back to full screen. So in working with the Montecito Board of Architectural Review, they requested that we also take a closer look at some of the landscaping on the north side of Hill Road. This rendering represents the different design elements that we have incorporated in coordination with them including proposing some infill trees to maintain a consistent rhythm of tree scape along the north side of Hill Road undulating some of the existing hedging along the existing sidewalk to allow for a layer of lower planting and creating more visual depth as you travel along Hill Road.

This is the overall site plan again showing the proposed scope of work which I won't go through in detail because it was so thoroughly covered in the report This is an enlarged plan showing the proposed design for these new driveway gates at the six bungalow driveways. And then specifically taking a quick look at bungalows G and H. They are twins, they are non-historic and as Mark mentioned they were originally constructed with this northeast unit as a garage which was then converted to guest room and we're proposing to convert back to garage so on top photos of the existing conditions on the bottom just a key where those images are taken from On the left here we have the existing plan showing the proposed demo for conversion to a garage. On the right hand side, proposed conversion to a garage and then here on the left we have the existing exterior elevations.

On the right, these are the only two elevations that will be impacted And then this is the overall landscape plan showing context and you can see some of the pops of color towards the north side of the plan where we are doing strategic landscape implementation both on the south side and north side of Hill Road. And these next few slides will go through quickly but they are enlarged views of the proposed landscape strategically placed to accommodate the hill road improvements and driveway curb cuts Bungalows G and H. Again, these are the two where we're proposing to convert guest room to garage.

And the remainder of these are uncovered parking spaces.

And I would just mention that the on-site parking is going to be done in a brick mosaic or a brick pattern to match the brick thematic you see through the building there. I believe that is the conclusion of our material presentations here. I would like to encourage the Planning Commission to adopt the staff recommendations and finding for approval. We're here to answer any questions you want, and I'd like to reserve a minute or two to make a closing comment.

Thank you. Are there questions for the applicant?

No.

Yes. Yes, I have a couple of questions. Will the parking on the north side that's going to be more informal is not going to be striped?

The parking on the north side of Hill Road will be standard size spaces. I don't believe it is striped. with N stripes to define it. It'll be typical parking that you see here, but they're 23 feet in length and so they are quite substantial and we actually think that as people park there will actually be more parking than

what's on the south side. How many spaces are anticipated at

23 feet? So we're designing for 32 and I don't want to represent that there is more than 32 parking. Yes. To say is that as we continue to go to smaller vehicles, they'll find a place to beach park

And are hotel guests discouraged from parking on the north side of Hill Road by signage or anything?

We don't have formal signage for that. We believe the provision of parking onsite and there is adequate parking for the guests, but we can have instructions to them this is where you should park. These are public parking spaces, we have no control over them.

And then how many parking spaces total are available for, you know per the number of rooms? How many total rooms and how many total parking spaces?

As you may know, in our previous approvals we have over 460 parking spaces that were found to be consistent with policies and standards when the hotel was at 236 guest rooms. Over the couple of projects through the AMD amendments we've done, that count has come down to now I believe 132 spaces so we have quite a bit of parking now on site 132 guest units, excuse me. With no reduction in parking and we're in fact increasing

parking. So 400 plus spaces for 132 rooms?

And employees.

Yes staff okay thank you.

And guests that would be used restaurant facilities and whatnot as you know those are open to the public.

Yes thank you.

Just a couple of additional questions did the proposed driveway gates slide With each side sliding apart, or do they open out or in?

They are two pieces that slide to each side. We can't have them go in because they obstruct parking and we can't have them go out because they diminish the stacking room for vehicles. So that 25-foot depth that I described allows a regular personal vehicle to be parked and not have its tail sticking out on the sidewalk.

Okay, and then was there any discussion or consideration in moving the sidewalk to having a material other than concrete for the sidewalk? As you may know around Montecito we have a number of pathways that are not technically sidewalks because the Montecito Community Plan talks about pathways rather than sidewalks but I do recognize that there are already existing concrete sidewalks down there.

Commissioner Rochenbach, we had originally proposed the bucket brigade type of DG pathways through our design exemption review with Public Works. They are insisting we do a more commercial standard since we're a commercial site. However, we are proposing that the sidewalk, it's concrete be pervious concrete to help us with our stormwater control and clean water requirements. So it is concrete.

We like the other material. We're unable to do it.

OK. Thank you.

Other questions?

No.

We'll come to that in a moment, just want to see if they are finished okay. Thank you both. Are there any, we can open it up for public comment. Are there any requests to speak either online or I don't see anybody in the room at the moment and don't have any speaker slips? And no requests. All right then we will close the public hearing Mr. Lord

Mr. Chair, I did ask that I have some of a minute reserve time and maybe this is appropriate time for that if you would allow?

Sure.

This project is an important project to the community. I want to recognize the staff for their contributions in efforts On behalf of getting this done, they were very helpful and very constructive yet very exacting. Deputy Seward and Supervisor Liu were very helpful in the process but I really want to point out the efforts of Planner Wacomia Thank you very much for those comments.

Request to speak. We will close the public hearing and open the floor for comments from the Commission before we move on to action. Are there comments? I

think you did a terrific job at presenting

this to the Commission.

The amount of convenience that this will both provide for hotel guests, which I think is important. This off-site parking really residentializes those units and the increased number of parking spaces which is always at a premium for people who want to go to the Thank you for that. Other comments?

I too would like to say I appreciate the amount of materials that we were provided by staff and the level of details. It took a while to go through, but in the end it made this presentation seamless so thank you.

I'm going to join with my colleagues in expressing my appreciation both to the applicant and to the staff for a very well thought through, both project and presentation. You make this job when it comes to a complicated project like this a lot easier than it would otherwise be. And we appreciate that effort by you. Is there a, I think I would ask the staff to put up on the screen the specific actions that we're being asked to take.

So for the revision memo which is there's copy on the dais for you but that's what we have on the screen and that incorporates the revised public works condition.

All right so there are three paragraphs up on the screen which are visible to all. I won't have to read them Is there a motion with respect to those three items?

I would move that we accept the staff recommendations that are listed in items 1 through 3 shown on the screen.

All right, that's the motion on the floor is there a second?

I'll second it.

All right, motion made and seconded. Is there discussion on the motion to approve the three paragraph staff recommendation? All right no discussion all those in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed say no. The motion is unanimously approved and the staff recommendation, the three paragraphs are approved. Anything further to do on this particular agenda item?

No just before we adjourn I just want to extend my thank you to the Commission for agreeing to come in on a special hearing day appreciate that

We're happy to do it, particularly when the agenda item is as well prepared and presented as this one is. So thank you for that. And thank you to the applicant and to the staff in particular for your excellent work on this. There being no other business before the commission, then the meeting of April 1st, 2026 is adjourned. Thank you all.