Should Santa Barbara’s golf courses give way to housing? Glen Annie tests that question

Santa Barbara County needs more housing. But the urgency of the housing shortage should not make every open parcel of land an automatic development opportunity. When that land is an established golf course, the decision deserves more scrutiny than simply calculating how many homes could be built there. Glen Annie Golf Club in Goleta is a case in point. Santa Barbara County approved rezoning the property in 2024 to allow residential development, and the current proposal envisions between 800 and 1,000 homes. The developer says at least 20% would be affordable, with nearly 100 acres of the larger property set aside for open space and passive recreation. It is an ambitious proposal, and its potential contribution to the housing supply should be taken seriously. But so should the cost of losing the golf course. The pressure to find land is real. Under California s 2023–2031 Regional Housing Needs Allocation, unincorporated Santa Barbara County must plan for enough capacity to acco