Goleta, CA · Case No. 25-0001-CUP
This permit follows the land, not the owner.
The Planning Commission decides Monday, July 13. Every comment sent before the hearing enters the public record. The earlier you send, the sooner it reaches the Commissioners. Can’t write? Just come. A full room of quiet neighbors says more than any of us could alone.
City staff has released its report for the July 13 hearing, recommending approval. Read it against the original application and one thing is clear: the proposed conditions now include real limits that were not there before. Weddings and all private or corporate rentals are prohibited. Amplified sound is capped at 60 dBA at every property line. Festivals must end by 9 PM instead of 10. Farm-to-table dinners drop from five per month to two, and large events fall from 91 per year in the application to no more than 37 under the proposed conditions.
That is real progress. But the conditions are still weak exactly where the neighborhood lives:
That last question is the whole ballgame, and it gets answered Monday, July 13.
The City of Goleta is reviewing a Conditional Use Permit for Fairview Gardens, a permanent land use entitlement that binds every future owner to whatever uses are approved today. On July 13, 2026, the Planning Commission will decide what this land is permitted to be for generations to come, regardless of who owns it.
The application covers two distinct categories of use. The first includes the farm operations, educational programs, and community activities that Fairview Gardens has long been known for, and that this community broadly supports. The second is an event operation that the proposed conditions now cap, but at a scale and frequency well beyond day-to-day farming: up to 37 large events a year, up to 1,500 guests at a time, amplified music until 9 PM, in the middle of a residential neighborhood.
The figures below are taken from the City’s July 13, 2026 staff report and the proposed Conditions of Approval (Exhibit E of the draft Resolution), not from the original application.
| Use | Frequency | Max Attendees | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farm Operations | Year-round, Mon–Sat | 24–34 staff | Varies |
| Farmstand (new, 2,500 sq ft) | Daily | Rolling | Not set in conditions (application proposed 9AM–9PM daily) |
| Café in the Farmhouse | Daily | Rolling | Not set in conditions (application proposed daytime, to 5PM) |
| On-Site Employee Housing | Permanent | 9 units | N/A |
| Children's Programs (field trips, camps, after-school) | 3–5x/week, year-round | 100 | 9AM-5:30PM |
| Adult Workshops (culinary, farming, gardening) | Up to 20x/month | 100 | 9AM-9PM |
| Total program sessions | Up to ~500/year |
| Use | Frequency | Max Attendees | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farm-to-Table Meals | 24/year (2 per month) | Up to 750 | Weekdays to 9PM; weekends to 7PM |
| Events (fundraisers, seasonal events, open houses, lectures) | Up to 8/year | 250–750 | Weekdays to 9PM; weekends to 7PM |
| Festivals | 5/year | 800–1,500 rolling | Weekends, to 9PM |
| Total large events (amplified sound permitted at all of the above) | Up to 37/year |
The proposed conditions now require every event to be open to the public, and they prohibit weddings and all private or corporate rentals. Those are real limits, and they matter. But the conditions still never define what a farm-to-table meal is, and they entitle 24 of them a year, at up to 750 guests each, to every future owner of this land, forever. Compliance rests on the operator monitoring its own sound levels, with reports required for only the first two years. With every event type clearly defined and the sound limits independently checked, this becomes the farm permit the community wants. Those additions are what we’re asking for.
We want this permit to describe a farm, and the details are what will make it one. What follows is where we stand, and the uses we support.
We believe Fairview Gardens can be something extraordinary. A working farm, open to the community, rooted in education and agriculture.
We support the following uses at Fairview Gardens:
Our concerns are specific, and every one of them comes straight from the City’s staff report and proposed conditions for the July 13 hearing.
The conditions cap the events, but they never define them. In a permit that runs with the land forever, an undefined term is an open door.
In a permit that lasts forever, clear definitions protect the farm and the neighbors alike.
The conditions set a 60 dBA limit at the property lines, but the operator measures its own compliance.
A limit the operator measures for itself, for only the first two years, is hard to rely on. Independent monitoring would give it real weight.
Staff recommends approval while its report notes several items still to be completed.
Staff’s report itself asks whether the required findings can be made yet. Finishing these pieces first would make for a stronger, more durable decision.
The staff report puts five questions to the Planning Commission, including whether the number, size, and hours of events should be reduced. We offer these asks as constructive answers.
The Planning Commission makes its final decision on July 13, 2026. Comments are distributed to the Commissioners in batches before the hearing; even comments sent over the weekend enter the official record and are provided to the Commission. Use the tool below to compose your comment. You will have a chance to review and edit everything before it sends. It goes from your own email address, in your own name, directly to the City.
Optional, but adding your address shows the Commission you are a local resident. Comments from nearby neighbors carry particular weight on traffic and noise.
This opens your email client with your comment pre-populated. Your comment is sent from your own email address and entered into the official public record.
Written comments enter the record. A room full of engaged residents sends a signal that no email can. You don’t need to speak, and you don’t need to stay for the whole meeting. The Commissioners see who is in the room.
Time and Zoom details to be announced. Check cityofgoleta.org for updates.
This is the hearing where the permit will be approved, conditioned, or denied. Your presence here is the most impactful action you can take.
Written comments submitted before the hearing will be distributed to the Planning Commission. Submit yours above.
Read the record for yourself. These are the primary source documents behind everything on this site. Hosted copies are taken directly from the City’s official July 13 agenda packet; the Conditions of Approval and Notice of Exemption are unaltered page extracts from the City’s 37 MB combined exhibits file, provided separately here so you don’t have to download the whole packet. Every document can be verified against the agenda linked below.