Community Development Director Nick (last name not specified) updated residents on the Surfliner Inn hotel proposal at Carpinteria’s State of the City, saying the application is complete and an environmental impact report is in preparation.

Nick said the project would be a public‑private partnership in which the city would own the land and lease it to a developer. “It’s a public private partnership where the city would own the land and lease it to a developer who would build and operate the hotel,” he said.

The proposed hotel site is a portion of the city’s Parking Lot Number 3 near the railroad tracks; as part of the project staff said a new public parking lot — tentatively called Parking Lot 4 — is proposed on the opposite side of the tracks. Nick said the city has completed architecture review-board review and is preparing the environmental impact report (EIR).

The timeline and public process: staff said they are “hoping that the draft EIR will be ready to release this winter, either late this year or early next year. And once it’s released, there will be a 45 day public comment period.” During that period the city will solicit comments from the public and other agencies, hold an environmental review committee meeting to present the EIR, and then prepare responses. The final EIR and permit applications would go to the planning commission, which is the authorized decisionmaking body for the project; any planning-commission decision may be appealed to the city council.

Nick said project documents and notices will be posted on the city’s Surfliner project web page and that interested persons can sign up to receive updates. He suggested the planning commission hearing could occur in spring but cautioned the schedule depends on how long the EIR process takes.

Ending: The city’s role as landowner for a public‑private lease and the planned EIR schedule set a clear public-review path. Staff encouraged residents to use the project webpage for documents and to prepare comments for the 45‑day review once the draft EIR is released.