The effort to annex 44 acres on the east side of the Union
Valley Parkway and State Highway 135 to the City of Santa Maria
is over.
          For the last six years developer Michael Stoltey and his team
from MD3 Investments of San Luis Obispo has negotiated with
agencies from the City and County in a futile effort to annex the site
to allow 400 apartments, 95 townhomes, a specialty market,
restaurant, service station and some smaller businesses.
At the April 7th Board of Supervisors meeting, the County
Executive Office submitted an analysis that if the property were
annexed to the City, the County would lose $212,000 annually in a
tax exchange agreement between the City and the County
Stoltey wanted the project to be annexed to Santa Maria
because the County could not supply water to commercial
businesses. Commercial water is only available through the City
of Santa Maria. However, the City will offer State Water for
housing developments.
          At the meeting, Fourth District Supervisor Bob Nelson made
the motion to accept the County recommendation to reject the tax
exchange proposal with Supervisors Laura Capps and Roy Lee
concurring. Supervisor Nelson said it was clear to him that “this
property is not in the adopted plans for the City of Santa Maria.” He
argued the County “has a plan in place, the Orcutt Community
Plan. This area is a peninsula into the Orcutt area, and it’s really
important for the County to honor that plan.”
           Supervisor Joan Hartman did not support the motion noting
the extreme need for housing. “I think the developer has been
trying in every way to figure out what might work and is running into
roadblocks everywhere.”
          Representing the developer, Laurie Tamura of Urban Planning
Concepts said that in addition to the six years of maneuvering the
layers of policies and Environmental Impact Reports, “there has
been a significant amount of community support for the Richards
Ranch development as a mixed-use project.” Tamura, along with
the developer, requested the supervisors grant a thirty-day
extension for further negotiations on the tax exchange agreement.
When the annexation effort was announced in 2021, there
was opposition from many Orcutt residents. Those opposed to
annexation distributed “I love Orcutt” lawn signs which popped up
on homes throughout Orcutt.
         Stoltey says he has no option but to proceed with a project
with much higher density. He has applied to the County for a
“Buyer’s Remedy” that allows developers to bypass certain zoning
restrictions if portions of the project include affordable units.
“As of now we are proceeding with a Builder’s Remedy
process of 750 apartment units, of which 20% would be affordable.
Four stories across the site,” he says.
          Stoltey has filed two lawsuits against the County arguing the
County has acted in “bad faith” regarding its Buyer’s Remedy
application and is violating state pro-housing laws.
Steve Southwick reporting