ARCHIVES

ARCHIVES

Mattei's Tavern plan to be reviewed

By Dave Bemis/Managing Editor

A proposal to create a 65-room hotel at the historic Mattei's Tavern in Los Olivos will come again to Santa Barbara County's Central Board of Architectural Review on Friday, Oct. 9, in Solvang.

The proposal would add onto the tavern building to create more kitchen and storage space and build individual two-story, three- and four-bedroom cottages and single-story, one-bedroom cottages behind the tavern.

Another new building would hold a fitness center, spa area, swimming pool, lockers and a meeting-banquet room, according to Santa Barbara County planning staff.

Mattei's Tavern is about 8,200 square feet, and the new construction would total nearly 62,000 square feet and require about 10,000 cubic yards of cut and fill on the 5.45-acre property, according to county planners.

Also on the property is the 1,780-square-foot Hartley House, which is a registered historic landmark, although the tavern building is not. The owners propose to preserve and use the Hartley House.

The property's owners, Santa Rita Land & Vine LLC, are also asking the county to abandon road easements on Railway Avenue, Santa Barbara Avenue and an unnamed alley off Santa Barbara Avenue.

The owners have been working their way through the county planning process since December, when they first came to the architectural review board for conceptual feedback. That month they also held an informal open house for Los Olivos residents, which was attended by more than 200 people.

The owners also presented their plans Sept. 14 to the county's Historic Landmarks Advisory Commission, which voted to withhold any opinion until a visit to the site could be arranged, according to Anita Hodosy-McFaul, the commission's secretary.

Mattei's Tavern was built in 1886 as a stagecoach stop and was owned by generations of Matteis until 1963.

In 2007, Santa Rita Land & Vine reportedly paid $10.75 million for the property that houses the tavern and restaurant, and an adjacent vacant parcel to the west.

Mattei's Tavern was previously owned by Mattei's Tavern LLC, a company created by the Firestone family.

The property adjacent to the tavern on the west was held by local equine veterinarian Doug Herthel.

Firestone and Herthel had originally purchased the parcels to protect them from development.

The Board of Architectural Review meeting begins at 9 a.m. Friday in the Solvang Municipal Court at 1745 Mission Drive, behind the library. However, the Mattei's Tavern item is last on the agenda, following another item that is scheduled to begin at 1:15 p.m. after the board's lunch break.

The architectural review board and historic landmarks panel ultimately will prepare recommendations for the county Planning Commission to consider once the project progresses to that level.

Staff writer Sam Womack contributed to this story.

October 8, 2009