Residents sue Santa Barbara County over Orcutt shopping center plans

ORCUTT, Calif. - A group of residents is suing Santa Barbara County in order to get them to do more environmental research before moving forward with the development of the Orcutt Gateway Retail Commercial Center.

The residents, who call themselves "Residents for Orcutt Sensible Growth," claim that the county did not do enough environmental analysis when they submitted their Final Environmental Impact Report for this project on July 22, 1997.

The group is requesting that approvals for the project be set aside until the county performs a reasonable review of the environmental impact of the project.

Santa Barbara County said they still stand by their previous Environmental Impact Report, and are now working through the next steps of the lawsuit process.

The "Residents for Orcutt Sensible Growth" have previously appealed to the County Board of Supervisors to halt their shopping center plans based on traffic, safety and air quality concerns. Their appeals were denied in November.

The plans for the shopping center include a restaurant with a drive-thru, a gas station, car wash and retail space. The center would take up six acres of space on Clark Avenue near Highway 101.

The development was approved by the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission in August.