Airport commission recommends city exempt two airport parcels from Surplus Land Act

The Santa Barbara Airport Commission voted unanimously Aug. 20 to recommend that the City Council adopt a resolution exempting two airport parcels — 6050 Hollister Avenue and 140 Frederick Lopez Road — from the Surplus Land Act to allow the airport to pursue long-term, nonresidential leases.

Director Hastert told the commission that the Surplus Land Act requires public agencies to prioritize housing when disposing of government property, but airports historically have an FAA-driven restriction on residential uses. He said the state Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) has already reviewed the draft resolution and “concurred that they believe it is exempt as well.”

The exemption would allow airport staff to skip the Surplus Land Act offer-and-notice steps that generally require agencies to first offer surplus parcels to housing entities. Hastert said the action does not sell the land; it would remain airport-owned and the city would be able to pursue longer-term leases for development. He told commissioners that any lease or project lasting longer than 15 years normally triggers the Surplus Land Act process and that the exemption is intended to streamline review for airport parcels that are incompatible with residential uses.

Commissioners asked for clarifications about which parcels are included. One commissioner asked, “Are we also including the old drive in that we use for parking?” Hastert responded that the recommendation covered the corner parcels adjacent to the Economy Lot and that the airport was not declaring the entire north-side property exempt at this time. He said the Economy Lot and other parking areas are not being targeted for long-term development now and would remain available for parking or temporary uses until a separate evaluation is appropriate.

Hastert outlined the timeline and next steps: the exemption resolution must be published locally and return to City Council for adoption, a process he estimated would take about 60 days. He added that if the exemption were protested during the publication period, the matter would be pulled and processed under the full Surplus Land Act timeline, which he estimated could add roughly six months.

The commission moved, seconded and approved the recommendation by voice vote. With five commissioners present the motion passed unanimously.

Next steps call for the city to publish the exemption, and if no successful protests are filed the City Council will consider the resolution and, if it approves, staff will be authorized to begin negotiating long-term leases and move forward with project solicitations for the identified parcels.