After a month-long delay, the City Council may rule Tuesday on plans for a vast residential project that could be home to more than 5,000 people in southwestern Santa Maria.

A public hearing on the Mahoney Ranch South project is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 110 E. Cook St.

The council continued an Aug. 19 public hearing after City Attorney Gil Trujillo said the project’s applicant, Black Road Ranch, LLC, had a past-due payment. Developers had not paid a portion of the fees for the environmental impact report for the 1994 Mahoney Ranch Specific Plan, according to a staff report. The issue involving $41,238.10 has since been resolved.

Originally adopted in 1994, the Mahoney Ranch Specific Plan has since been split into two areas — Mahoney Ranch South and Mahoney Ranch North. The 141-acre northern portion is not up for development at this time. The city annexed the property in November 2004, a decade after adopting its Specific Plan.

For the Mahoney Ranch South, Black Road Ranch LLC proposes up to 1,405 residential units on 191 acres of the 319-acre property south of Betteravia Road between Black Road and the Santa Maria Public Airport property, and north of the Tanglewood community.

According to the project's environmental impact report, 727 would be single-family homes, on lots ranging from 5,000 to 7,000 square feet; 479 would be multifamily units, such as duplexes and triplexes; and 199 would be high-density residential, multifamily units, such as townhomes or apartments.

Besides the residential units, the plan ultimately includes an elementary school, community park, community retail center and 106 acres of conservation open space designated to protect the California tiger salamander and red-legged frog.

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On July 2, the Planning Commission unanimously sent the project to the council with a recommendation in favor of the project. At the meeting, Tanglewood residents expressed concerns over losing privacy and views of the Santa Maria Valley.

The agenda report includes a letter from long-time Tanglewood residents George and Ofelia Tise asking the council to reject the plans and ask the applicant to make the project more compatible with low-density residential units along its boundaries instead of medium-density residential units. They also suggest widening Black Road and adding traffic signals and turn lanes before construction begins.

Another letter from Doris O. Bynum of Tanglewood includes dozens of signatures from other community residents opposing two-story condos, duplexes, triplexes, apartments, and single-family homes.

Tanglewood’s Ellis C. Brown writes multistory condos on the other side of a fence from existing single-family homes “would destroy all privacy enjoyed by the present residents” and suggests a road from the north end of Pinewood Road or Olivewood Road to Highway 1 and a more suitable location for the proposed school away from commercial development.

Julian J. Ramos can be reached at 739-2219 or at jramos@santamariatimes.com.

September 15, 2008