Planning Commission continues review of former Sears remodel, seeks design refinements

The Santa Maria Planning Commission on Wednesday continued its review of a downtown permit to remodel the former Sears building at 226 East Main Street, moving the item to its April 16 meeting after commissioners pressed the applicant for facade and circulation refinements.

Planning staff presented the application for downtown permit DT2020Three-twelve, describing a proposed reuse of the vacant two‑story, roughly 114,000‑square‑foot building on a 5.4‑acre site in the Town Center District. Carol Dizonhennie, presenting for planning staff, told the commission, “My name is Carol Dizonhennie. I will be presenting the, application before you this evening for the remodel of the former Sears building, downtown permit DT2020Three-twelve at 226 East Main Street.”

The project would place an El Super grocery store of about 51,000 square feet on the ground floor, add up to four small ground‑floor tenants and two larger second‑floor tenants, reorient parking aisles for better cart access, add pedestrian walkways compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and relocate loading docks to a less visible internal area of the site. Staff said the project was covered under the previously certified programmatic environmental impact report for the downtown specific…