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Council certifies EIR and approves revised industrial warehouse plan for 907 S. Kellogg; council cites unavoidable aesthetic and solid‑waste impacts
Summary
After an extensive hearing and technical responses to late public comment, the council certified the environmental impact report and approved Alternative 2 — a reconfigured site plan that avoids the 100‑foot Stream Protection Area — for the Sywos (Cy West) industrial building at 907 S. Kellogg Avenue.
The Goleta City Council certified the final environmental impact report (EIR) and approved a revised development plan (Alternative 2) for the proposed Sywos (Cy West) industrial building at 907 South Kellogg Avenue (APN 170‑190‑035).
After staff presentation, consultant testimony and a lengthy public record, council voted to certify the EIR, adopt the mitigation monitoring and reporting program and adopt a statement of overriding considerations for impacts remaining significant after mitigation. The council then approved Alternative 2 — which shifts the building to the north and west, outside the 100‑foot Streamside Protection Area (SPA) along San Jose Creek — and denied the original project layout that proposed reduced SPA setbacks. The vote approving the EIR and Alternative 2 was unanimous.
Key findings and measures: the EIR identified several topics with mitigation that reduced impacts to less‑than‑significant levels (biological resources surveys and preconstruction avoidance measures, erosion control, construction noise control measures, hazardous‑materials plans, and stormwater quality measures). The draft EIR identified unavoidable impacts in aesthetics (the building’s elevation and resulting views from State Route 217), land use policy conflicts tied to the SPA reduction proposed in the original plan, and solid‑waste generation during construction.
Staff and the EIR consultant prepared extensive written responses to late comment letters from conservation groups and the Department of Fish and Wildlife; councilmembers reviewed those responses during deliberations. The council adopted the finding that Alternative 2 is the environmentally superior alternative because it eliminates encroachment into the SPA and reduces significant biological resource concerns.
Public comment: speakers included environmental advocates who urged preservation of the 100‑foot SPA and stronger biological protections, and neighborhood residents who raised concerns about noise, heavy‑truck traffic and visibility from Highway 217. The applicant agreed to several refinements, including: final landscape plan review by the design‑review board with a biologist to avoid invasive species, implementing a construction noise control plan, and improving stormwater treatment and detention to higher modern standards.
Votes and next steps: council adopted the EIR certification and approvals and directed staff to finalize permits and conditions consistent with Alternative 2 and the mitigation monitoring program. The developer will need to secure regulatory permits (including any state permits for creek work) and then proceed to building permits and construction.
Why it matters: the project replaces a long‑vacant, formerly commercial site with a roughly 70,000‑square‑foot industrial warehouse arranged to avoid the critical 100‑foot creek buffer; council decisions balance neighborhood impacts, creek protection and the city’s industrial land‑use needs.
Speakers quoted in this report spoke during the downtown public hearing and the planning commission proceedings; the action recorded was a formal council vote on July 15, 2025.
