Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some of the most commonly asked questions regarding the project. If you do not find the answer to your question here, please do not hesitate to ask us.
- Who or what is North Hills?
- Where is this land?
- What are your development plans?
- What is a "healthy community"?
- Where will the water come from?
- When will you have a plan/application?
- Why do you think this would be a good site for development?
- Do we really need more development in the county?
- What sort of public outreach do you plan to conduct to solicit opinions of your neighbors and other activist groups?
- Is this prime agricultural land?
- I understand that you have met with county staff and some elected representatives and indicated that you would build a community large enough to meet all of the county's affordable housing needs. Is that true?
- Will you have access to public transit?
- What types of services will be available in each neighborhood?
General Questions
Q. Who or what is North Hills?
North Hills, LLC is a partnership that was formed to study the possibility of creating a sustainable, mixed-use master planned community on a portion of an approximately 4,000 acre parcel of land owned by BreitBurn Energy. Jackson Washburn of BreitBurn Energy and Randy Wheeler, the manager of the Rice Ranch planning effort, are the representatives of North Hills, LLC.
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Q. Where is this land?
It is located in the Orcutt Hills between Highway 101 and Route 135. This is where the original Orcutt oil field community was located many years ago. Some of the site is now used for BreitBurn Oil and Gas operations. There are currently many miles of roads through the site that were created to support oil operations. There are also a wide variety of structures and improvements that remain on the site today from the original Orcutt community. View Large Map
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Q. What are your development plans?
We don't have any formal or final plans today. The North Hills team is conducting a wide variety of studies of the land, the soil, water supplies, transportation issues, local housing needs, and discussing the possible development of this site with members of the community. Some of our initial studies indicated that the site had promise as a sustainable, mixed use community focusing on health and wellness. Based on those studies we retained world class planner Mr. Peter Calthorpe and asked him to outline some different approaches that might be taken in planning development on this site to help meet the needs of Santa Barbara County. We are now discussing these very preliminary conceptual plans with the community and seeking input to help us make decisions about future plans.
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Q. What is a "healthy community"?
A healthy community is not only sustainable, on both an environmental and economic basis, it is one that provides housing at all ranges, from apartments, to town-homes, to traditional neighborhoods; it makes a conscious effort to provide housing for working families, educators and public safety workers. A healthy community has walkable streets, accessible parks, recreation and lifetime learning opportunities and encourages and enables health and wellness. It's a place were safe routes to school, on foot or by bicycle, are built into the fabric of the community, not imposed by stop lights and crossing guards; where open space surrounding development is protected by conservation easements or public ownership so it is protected for future generations. A healthy community contributes in a positive way to the jobs/housing balance of an area. A healthy community provides for a healthy economy, with a mix of residential and commercial uses that provide a tax base to provide essential services. A healthy community provides options to enhance and enrich the lives of the residents and the region.
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Q. Where will the water come from?
We are in discussions with the City of Santa Maria to purchase sufficient water to serve the project.
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Q. When will you have a plan/application?
The first step is the Initation of a General Plan Amendment with the County of Santa Barbara. We hope to do this very soon, as it will allow us to move to the next step and design the project.
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Q. Why do you think this would be a good site for development?
Well, there was already a community there prior to WWII. We understand there were a couple thousand residents living on the site at one point. There are a variety of structures on the site and it has been impacted by nearly 100 years of oil operations. There are miles of roads and various types of infrastructure (e.g. utilities and water lines) throughout the site. The land is located between two major highways - Highway 101 and Route 135 - so access in and out is pretty easy. The County adopted plans as far back as 1979 that stated a preference for placing housing on old oil fields such as this one, rather than disturbing more important agricultural lands or coastal areas.
The soil on this site is of low agricultural value.
All of this adds up to a site that deserves some study as a possible development site.
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Q. Do we really need more development in the county?
During our meetings with many community residents, it is clear that there is a need for certain types of new development. Many residents tell us of the significant shortage of affordable housing for working families, teachers, nurses and public safety personnel in the Santa Maria Valley. There appears to be a critical need for more workforce housing, both for sale and for rent.
This is one reason why the County is facing pressure from state officials to provide more affordable housing. It's also possible that some development on this site could help attract some quality jobs, new medical and other services to the area.
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Q. What sort of public outreach do you plan to conduct to solicit opinions of your neighbors and other activist groups?
We are now meeting with people to talk about the site and to solicit their opinions about possible development at this location. We have already met with hundreds of community and business leaders, agricultural interests, city and county staff, and many others, and we will continue to do so. This website is also a good way to provide us with your input.
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Q. Is this prime agricultural land?
The site is not considered prime agricultural land. This general area was identified in the 1979 Open Space Element as a possible site for future expansion of urban uses; stating these "lands [are] not suitable for the expansion of cultivated agriculture."
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Q. I understand that you have met with county staff and some elected representatives and indicated that you would build a community large enough to meet all of the county's affordable housing needs. Is that true?
We have met with lots of people and there has been much speculation about several possible scenarios. But the fact is that we are still in the conceptual planning and evaluation mode. We have many questions to answer and lots of community input to incorporate into our plans; however, we are currently evaluating a potential conceptual project of up to 7,500 residential units for all income levels (with at least 20% meeting the County's Affordable / Workforce Housing Categories) and up to 2 million sq ft of commercial / retail space, including possible health care facilities. In addition North Hills will have public facilities such as schools, parks, fire station, etc. Finally there will be a significant amount of permanent open space.
It will be many months before we are in a position to make a decision about whether to proceed. At that time we will know what a plan might look like. Anything else at this point is just speculation.
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Q. Will you have access to public transit?
We are currently working with several very well respected transit experts to see how best to provide linkages and encourage more regional transit opportunities. Each individual township will be designed to facilitate walking and discourage auto use. In addition, the North Hills neighborhoods will most likely be connected by an internal shuttle system which we hope to link to SMAT and other alternative transportation systems. Please use the comments section to give us your ideas.
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Q. What types of services will be available in each neighborhood?
Each village center will most likely have a unique mix of commercial offerings.
When you think of a village, you might think of Los Olivos, which includes a hotel, several restaurants, the Grange meeting hall & theater, a saddlery, art galleries, bank, church, dentists, and a variety of service professionals. Or you might think of Montecito's Upper Village, which has a grocery store, post office, fire department, book store, retail shops, doctor, dentist, attorney and other professional offices, library and community meeting hall, gas station and auto repair, several restaurants, churches, parks, recreation and school are nearby.
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