We, the residents of Santa Maria, CA, strongly oppose the proposed Paradiso Residential development on the Ibsen property located at 1571 East Main Street. 

This plan will change the 15 acre property zoning from R-1 (low density), into 10 acres of R-2 (medium density) and 5 acres of R-3 (high density) housing. The medium density housing will consist of 90-two story townhomes, and a 150-unit three story senior housing complex. This adds up to 240 units of housing on a small 15 acre parcel in what is currently a quiet and peaceful neighborhood.

This development will have a detrimental and irreversible impact on our town and the greater community in the following ways:

Increased traffic: at all times of the day, especially in the morning and afternoon peak hours. Main Street is already strained during peak hours and Suey Rd. is in terrible condition.

Parking: the townhomes will only have two-car garages, no driveway, and only 43 guest parking spaces. This means, if there are more than 2 vehicles per home (which is very likely), parking will spill over into existing neighborhoods and onto Main Street. ADUs can be added, even if medium density, so the likelihood of garage conversions is high, further straining the parking and density situation.

Spruce Drive, which is currently a small cul-de-sac will turn into a secondary egress for this new development which will mean many more cars parked on Rowland Drive and surrounding neighborhoods.   

Environment: air quality and existing nature will be greatly impacted. All trees and shrubs which currently house many native and migratory birds will be destroyed. From what neighbors have seen there are a pair of red tail hawks and great horned owls that call the current Ibsen property home and I am sure many more birds and mammals as well.  

California was declared to be in an extreme drought starting September 2021. "The water year that ended September 30 was the second driest on record, due to extreme heat and lack of rain and snow. All 58 counties in California are now under a drought emergency proclamation."
California Drought Action

If California is currently in a drought then we should be doing our best to conserve water which does not include bringing more people to our area or building more houses. Water and electricity consumption will increase dramatically, which will ultimately cause greater rate increases. 

Noise: will increase dramatically with the inclusion of 240 new homes in this small area. More vehicles, loud music, sirens, barking dogs, and general noise that comes with the injection of additional people. As well as more sirens going to the proposed 3 story senior living complex.

Residential Property Devaluation: This project will come at the expense of existing homeowners. With increased traffic and high-density housing, comes lower demand for the area, which ultimately affects property values. The homes that border this new housing development will have a wall of 2 story houses looking directly into their backyards and into their home, obliterating any sense of privacy they are used to. This will devalue their current property value because all privacy will be lost. 

For the reasons listed above and more, we, the undersigned residents of Santa Maria, CA and the surrounding community are strongly opposed to the Coastal Community Builders (CCB) proposal and demand the Santa Maria City Counsel and Planning Department deny any and all permitting for this detrimental project that comes at the current resident's expense and only benefits the developer. 

More info: Conceptual Review
                 City Counsel Meeting 10.4.22   Skip to 1 Hour 54 Minutes 
                 Citizens Against The Proposed Paradiso Development Facebook Group

Upcoming City Counsel Meeting: October 18th 2022 at 5:30 pm 
https://cityofsantamaria.civicweb.net/Portal/MeetingSchedule.aspx