A major mixed use development could be coming to Orcutt.
The proposed Orcutt Marketplace off Clark Avenue and Highway 101 would include a hotel, apartments, retail space and even a pharmacy.
Over 10 years ago, developers tried to build a housing project on the site and even a grocery store but it never happened.
Now some neighbors are apprehensive this project will come to fruition.
"I think it's a good move. I think Orcutt needs to grow," said Orcutt resident Brittany Bruno.
"(The project's) almost so Bay Area and that's where I came from and I'm glad to escape," said Orcutt resident Steve Urbach.
The Santa Barbara County Planning and Development Department says the proposed Orcutt Marketplace would be over 400,000 square feet and include a 125-room hotel, four restaurants (three with drive-throughs), a pharmacy with a drive-through, retail space, and potentially over 200 new apartments.
"It'd be nice to stay in Orcutt rather than go all the way downtown to Santa Maria, just more convenient for locals as well people coming to visit the area," Bruno said.
"I think it's too much for the area and you don't need high paid experts to say that, just ask the locals," Urbach said.
This space has been eyed for development before.
The county says a project was approved on the site back in 2008 but never constructed.
Plans for the Orcutt Marketplace were submitted in 2015 and the project is still in its environmental review phase.
KSBY News reached out to the developers of this space and have not yet heard back.
On Tuesday, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors will consider more money for consultants who are looking at the environmental impacts of developing this space.
Right across the street from the proposed marketplace, the Orcutt Hill Plaza broke ground back in June of 2018 and is still under construction despite the 10 month timeline developers expected.
The county says several other projects could soon be coming to Orcutt, including the neighborhoods of Willow Creek and Hidden Canyon, which would add close to 150 homes.
