Council hears concept to convert vacant offices on Carpinteria Bluffs into 31 live-work units

Carpinteria ' At a July 13 City Council meeting, staff and the property's potential purchaser outlined a conceptual adaptive reuse that would convert two vacant office buildings at 6185 Carpinteria Avenue into 31 residential units and 20 adjoining workspaces intended for small businesses, start-ups and professional services.

City planning staff said the site is zoned MRP (industrial/research park) and noted the municipal code allows mixed use only after findings that the project preserves industrial character, contributes to the jobs-housing balance, is compatible with surrounding uses and avoids impacts to environmentally sensitive habitat. The staff presentation flagged four issue areas council members should weigh: commercial-use consistency with MRP zoning, potential impacts of permanent residents near sensitive bluff habitat (lighting, noise and pets), whether the project presents enough commercial square footage or street-facing commercial character to meet policy intent, and the project's implications for the city's RHNA (regional housing needs allocation) and housing-element tracking.

"The project proposes to use the two existing office buildings at 6185 Carpinteria Avenue for an adaptive reuse project," staff said, noting the proposal would keep the buildings' exterior appearance and most on-site parking and landscaping while converting interior spaces for residential and small workspace uses.

Developer Peter Lewis described the proposal as a way to add housing without new ground disturbance. "Our proposal creates 31 new residential units and supports 20 businesses in a vacant office building without any modification to the exterior outside of cosmetic upgrades," Lewis said, adding that the building's 102 parking spaces "generously fulfill the requirement of the parking demand the use will generate." He argued adaptive reuse reduces environmental impacts compared with new construction and could improve the local jobs-housing balance by housing workers who now commute into Carpinteria.

Public commenters were split. Doug Adrianson, a current Palm Lofts resident, urged the council to favor adaptive reuse over new bluff development and said the proposal preserves open land: "Adapting an already existing building is better in every way than new construction on a relatively untouched natural land." Other residents asked for strict limits on exterior lighting, monitoring of habitat impacts, and consideration of traffic and safety near the Lagunitas Creek corridor.

Council members expressed cautious interest and several common concerns. Some members said the reuse concept is one of the least-invasive ways to add housing and praised the reuse of a vacant building, but others said the lack of deed-restricted affordable units was an important omission given the site's sensitive bluff location. Several members asked that the planning commission review the concept in a joint session before any formal application is submitted. Staff said the project would need development-plan findings and that many habitat and coastal policy questions would be addressed during environmental review and project-level consistency analysis.

There was no formal action; council provided feedback to staff and the applicant. If the developer files a formal application, staff said required findings and any CEQA review would examine habitat, lighting, parking and allowable commercial uses under the MRP zoning.