<figcaption class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-127387">The new bungalows are planned to be built at the corner of Cox Ln. and Blosser Rd.The Santa Maria city council voted Tuesday to build affordable housing for seniors and people with special needs in the city’s northwest area.
Ongoing changes have led to the project seeing many different eyes as it passes through the bureaucratic factory, but the council voted 3 to 2 to build the bungalows. Mayor Alice Patino and Councilwoman Etta Waterfield voted not to build the housing project.
The council had originally approved the bungalows last October, but it was tabled after some residents raised concerns about parking and other issues in March.
The project again went through the planning commission in April after the land had already been acquired by the Housing Authority for Santa Barbara County.
In the original plan, the city was going to build 30 residential units and a community center on a 1.3-acre lot at the corner of Cox Lane and Blosser Road for use as market-rate housing.
Now that construction is moving forward, the project is said to cost an estimated $8.6 million.
