Solvang's housing news has centered on two large apartment proposals, the lawsuit over one of them, and the state rules behind both. Meanwhile, a 750-square-foot backyard cottage on Second Street is about to get its permit. The City of Solvang's September 2026 project list shows that cottage as a new detached accessory dwelling unit, marked "Ready to be Issued." It also carries a double asterisk. On the city's list, that symbol marks "permits not requiring discretionary review per California Government Code and/or Solvang Municipal Code."
That means no public hearing. The project shows up in the city's published list rather than on a planning agenda. In Solvang today, most new housing arrives this way. The large proposals get the attention, but they move slowly through a process set by state law that the city says it has little power to shape. The two kinds of project run at very different speeds.
The quick track: backyards and second floors
Take the September 2026 list one line at a time and a pattern shows up. The projects under construction or close to a permit are small, spread across established streets, and many of them skip discretionary review.
| Street | What the city list describes | Status, September 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Fifth Street | 350 sq ft ADU converted from existing space | Building permit issued |
| Nysted Drive | Detached ADU, 1,195 sq ft living area | Building permit issued |
| Rebuild Drive | 396 sq ft workshop converted to ADU, no discretionary review | Building permit issued |
| Pistache Avenue | Attached 382 sq ft ADU, no discretionary review | Building permit issued |
| Fredensborg Canyon Road | ADU with conditioned office/personal gym space, no discretionary review | Building permit issued |
| 423 Second Street | Commercial space converted to 2 residential units plus 500 sq ft of remodeled commercial, no discretionary review | Building permit issued |
| Second Street | New detached 750 sq ft ADU, no discretionary review | Ready to be issued |
The village core is changing in a similar way, a few units at a time. Fredrick Square at 485 Alisal Road has approval to turn office and restaurant patio space into three studios and three one-bedroom apartments on the second floor of an existing mixed-use building. At 1697 Copenhagen Drive, an approved planning entitlement describes four one-bedroom units on a converted second floor, one of them proposed as an ADU. The building permit for the same address, also listed as ready to be issued, describes the second-floor spaces becoming two studios and an ADU. Those two entries are at different stages, and the final unit count is the one that gets built. Elsewhere on the list, a five-unit building with one ADU at 420 Fifth Street and three new single-family homes on Laurel from the Bella Vista subdivision both have building permits.
The city has also sped up permits. At the August 2026 State of the City, Community Development Director Rafael Castillo said Solvang had cut permit processing from 151 business days to under 30, and that construction valuation had risen to $10.7 million, according to Noozhawk. Small, ministerial projects take place on that sub-30-day timeline. While the city was drafting its Housing Element in early 2023, the Santa Maria Times reported that Solvang had approved an average of eight ADUs a year. When the element was adopted in late 2023, the paper counted about 20 ADUs that were permitted or under construction. The current list shows that pace continuing across many neighborhoods.
For a buyer, this means the closest change to a property is often a lot or two away, and it appears in the city's permit records rather than in a hearing notice. In escrow, the city list gives a clearer picture of a street than the listing does.
The slow track: two large proposals running on state clocks
The large proposals are harder to read because the city doesn't control their pace. Both trace back to the same requirement. Solvang's sixth-cycle Regional Housing Needs Allocation is 191 units, split into 28 extremely low, 27 very low, 39 low, 22 moderate and 75 above-moderate income units. The city has to show where those homes could go. That timeline produced both projects.
- June 15, 2023. The Housing Element was late, which put Solvang out of compliance with state housing law.
- October 6, 2023. While the city was out of compliance, a developer filed a preliminary Builder's Remedy application for the project now known as Wildwood, according to the Santa Ynez Valley Star.
- February 12, 2024. The state certified the Housing Element. That closed the window for new Builder's Remedy filings, but applications already in the pipeline could proceed if they complied with the law.
- 2024. The City Council rezoned a 3.71-acre parcel known as Site D, along Alisal Road at Juniper Avenue and Fjord Drive, from recreational to high-density residential, as the Santa Barbara News-Press reported.
- April 3, 2026. The city received an SB 330 preliminary application for the Alisal Glen Way Apartments on Site D.
- September 30, 2026. This was the 180-day deadline to file a full application. The September project list now shows a development permit and vesting tentative parcel map for 88 units under PA 26-038, in "Application Review" with no hearing date set.
Alisal Glen Way
The city's May 2026 review letter describes 88 units on 3.71 net acres. Four are deed-restricted for very-low-income households, and the plan includes five three-story buildings totaling 103,878 square feet of residential space, 113 parking spaces, and a request for a height waiver under the state density bonus. By September, the owners told the News-Press they expected four three-story buildings of one- and two-bedroom units.
The state's rules shape most of this. Because four units are set aside for very-low-income renters, the News-Press reported, the project qualifies for up to 90 units instead of 75. Under SB 330, Solvang can hold no more than five public hearings on the application. Castillo described the city's position to the Santa Barbara News-Press this way:
"The city is extremely limited. The state of California has completely hamstrung municipalities."
The city still has some say. Castillo told the News-Press that the city can push for landscaping, fire and safety measures, possibly stepped architecture, and connections to nearby parks. In May, the city sent a list of requirements covering traffic mitigation and public works such as sidewalks, streetlights and storm drains. "If you're a developer, you need to pay your own way," he said at the State of the City, as quoted by the News-Press.
Wildwood
Wildwood is harder to pin down. The September city list describes 100 multifamily units with 20 affordable units, filed as an SB 330 application with a state density bonus, and gives its status as "Project on hold via agreement," with no date. Two weeks before the list came out, Castillo said at the State of the City that the project had dropped to 50 units to stay compliant with zoning and that its application was still under review, Noozhawk reported. The public record doesn't yet explain the difference between those numbers or what the agreement is.
The court case hasn't settled anything either. A residents' association sued in March 2025, and in August 2025 a judge dismissed the case as premature because the city hadn't made a final decision, which left room for a challenge after any approval, Noozhawk reported.
Taken together, the two projects add up to somewhere between 138 and 188 units, depending on which Wildwood figure holds. That is most of the 191-unit allocation on paper, and neither project has a confirmed timeline. Castillo also said that only 12 affordable units are currently planned for development in the city.
What the speed difference means at the offer stage
The two tracks call for different kinds of diligence. For a home near Site D or the Alamo Pintado corridor, the questions are about timing and process. Which application is on file, what stage is it at, and how many of the five SB 330 hearings are left? Those answers are public, and they change from month to month. The News-Press noted that 88 units would equal about 7.5 percent of the city's estimated rental inventory, which shows why one project gets this much attention.
For a home almost anywhere else in town, the relevant change is smaller and less visible. That could be a workshop becoming a small living unit, a backyard cottage, or a second floor in the village becoming apartments over shops. The city's list records these at the permit stage, and with processing now under 30 business days, the time between application and construction is short. Any of this can bring a new household onto a street, more cars at the curb, or a lit window across a fence line. For a buyer, the practical step is to read the most recent project list and look for the property's street and the parcels around it before removing contingencies.
The same rules apply in the other direction. A buyer looking at a lot with room for a detached structure is looking at the process that produced most of the entries in the table above. Whether a specific property qualifies is a question for the city's planning staff.
FAQ
Where can I see what's proposed near a Solvang address?
The City of Solvang Community Development Department publishes a Current Project List. It groups projects as under construction, under building permit review, approved, or in planning review, and it uses a double asterisk to mark permits that don't need discretionary review.
Will there be a public hearing on Alisal Glen Way?
The city's preliminary review says the project needs Planning Commission approval and a public hearing. SB 330 limits the city to five hearings, and as of the September 2026 list, no date has been set.
Is Wildwood 100 units or 50?
The September 2026 city list says 100, and Castillo said 50 at the August 2026 State of the City. Until a newer city document settles it, both figures are on the public record.
Central Coast Landmark Properties reviews the city's project filings alongside each Solvang property we represent, so you know what is permitted, pending, or on hold nearby before you commit. Request a private consultation and market assessment.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
