Wednesday evening, the Santa Maria Planning Commission approved the plans for the Alvin Newton Apartments, an 82-unit complex that would fill the plaza on the corner of Main Street and Broadway.
“I think as a city, we feel like we are at a point where we are seeing sticks off the ground, and seeing the goals and specific vision of the plan come to reality,” said city community development director, Chuen Wu.
He adds that across the intersection from the Alvin Newton Apartments, an 18-unit apartment building will be wrapping up construction early next year.
He says of all the new developments in the works for downtown Santa Maria, anywhere from 1,500 to 2,000 new residents could be moving in within the decade.
“That is really cool, because soon, people from outside of Santa Maria can come, drive by and check us out,” said Jay San Juan, a server at Mikado Sushi in Santa Maria.
“It would help us a lot because our business is literally right there so all they would have to do is walk on by,” added Emily Mejia, a stylist at Superstars Haircuts. “It will be easy access; the mall is right there so maybe we will get more population through that.”
Mejia says their business is still trying to rebound following the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. She says she is hopeful for how the coming downtown developments could bring back their clientele.
“With new people coming in, word gets out really fast if you are good at your job and pleasant to be around, word gets around so fast," Mejia said." So, with all the new people and newcomers, I think business will be booming."
However, she and other businesses we heard from also say they have concerns about how the boost in population may impact parking.
“We want to be mindful of their concerns and make sure that as we redevelop the area, we do have sufficient parking, we do have good access, and that any potential impacts to existing businesses are minimized or mitigated,” Chuen Wu explained.
Wu says future residents of the Alvin Newton Apartments will be able to park in the existing structure next to the Santa Maria Town Center.
He says the development will also include a memorial for fallen Santa Maria firefighter, Alvin Newton, as well as spaces for commercial businesses on the ground floor.
City council will take up a vote on the project on October 3.
