Planning commission reviews Cottage Health medical office plan for 515 McMurray Road

The Buellton City Planning Commission conducted a preliminary review of a proposed three‑story Cottage Health medical office at 515 McMurray Road (the Parks Plaza Theater site), with staff and applicant representatives present to take comments; no formal decision was made.

The project would demolish the existing theater and develop a 1.48‑acre site for a mixed medical office building with specialty care and primary care uses. Staff said the building would appear as two stories from the McMurray Road frontage, operate Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and include on‑site parking, a bike storage room and a lobby at the rear that sits near a mapped 100‑year floodplain.

Commissioners and staff focused on the building height as the primary technical issue. Staff explained that the site’s sloping topography produces a rear elevation of about 46 feet and an east (McMurray frontage) elevation of 35 feet; using the city’s height calculation method yields an averaged overall height of 43.25 feet, which staff said is 8.25 feet above the 35‑foot limit.…