In another example of what staff planners warn would be “urbanization” of rural lands east of Lompoc, the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission will get its first look Wednesday at a request to create 18 residential lots on a large agricultural parcel next to the La Purisima Golf Course.

Arnie Parnell, the property owner and applicant, wants to subdivide 514 acres of agriculturally zoned land in the Cebada Canyon area, on the north side of Highway 246. The site, about three miles from Lompoc city limits, is directly west of the golf course and east of La Purisima Mission State Park.

A “conceptual review” of his pre-application is scheduled before the commission when it meets at the County Engineering Building in Santa Barbara, 123 E. Anapamu St., beginning at 9 a.m. No vote will be taken Wednesday, but commissioners can indicate their initial impressions of the project and any concerns they may have.

The minimum parcel size allowed for Parnell's property is 100 acres. However, he's requesting 18 residential lots, each zoned for one acre or more, with the proposed parcels ranging from two to 20 acres. A separate parcel, with the remaining 382 acres, would be kept agricultural.

The project would require a change to the county's general plan and would conflict with land-use policies that discourage residential densities greater that one home per five acres in rural areas, according to a report by the county planning staff.

The one-acre zoning proposed by Parnell “currently only exists within urban areas of the county,” the report notes, “where small-lot development is common and represents the established development pattern.”

Consequently, if his requested subdivision is approved, it “would be the urbanization of a designated rural area” and could have “countywide implications” for development on other farm land.

It's one of several instances recently when the commission has had to deal with proposals for residential development on rural lands in the Highway 246 corridor east of Lompoc. Earlier this month, it conceptually reviewed a proposal for an 80-room resort hotel and 85 privately owned “casitas” on vacant portions of La Purisima Golf Course. In November, commissioners grappled with a request by several landowners to subdivide 178 acres into five-acre ranchettes along Tularosa Road, east of the golf course

After a lengthy debate, the commission was sharply divided on whether the latter application should even be processed by staff, an issue that may ultimately be decided by the county Board of Supervisors.

“Due to the precedent that could be set,” the staff also warned in November, the proposed five-acre zoning on land that now has a mixture of 10-acre and 20-acre minimum parcels shouldn't be considered a minor change in land use.

Some commissioners voiced strong concerns about allowing “piecemeal development” in that area without first having a long-term plan in place for what land uses should occur there in the future.

“Are we going to do this piece by piece until we have the whole Lompoc Valley replanned?” wondered Commissioner Michael Cooney. “That is just not good planning.”

Landowners and their representatives noted, however, that the county's general plan for the unincorporated areas of that valley hasn't been updated since 1980, and probably won't be for at least five more years.

Commissioner Joe Valencia was sympathetic to the difficulties that delay causes property owners.

“At some point we have to allow them to do something with their properties,” he remarked.

In a separate matter Wednesday, the commission will also resume its discussion - and is expected to vote on - a proposed mixed-use project in Los Olivos known as Stage Stop Plaza.

The landowner, Harvey Saarloos of Solvang, is proposing general-plan and zoning changes to allow 51,165 square feet of retail shops, offices, condominiums and other development on a three-acre site where 4,000 square feet of office buildings and a spa now stand. The property is along the south side of Highway 154, adjacent to Grand Avenue.

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In a separate matter Wednesday, the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission will also resume its discussion - and is expected to vote on - a proposed mixed-use project in Los Olivos known as Stage Stop Plaza.  The landowner, Harvey Saarloos of Solvang, is proposing general-plan and zoning changes to allow 51,165 square feet of retail shops, offices, condominiums and other development on a three-acre site on the south side of Highway 154, adjacent to Grand Avenue.