Westmont College Master Plan EIR - County of Santa Barbara

Rincon prepared an EIR for the update of the Master Plan for a 1,200-student liberal arts college in Montecito. The Master Plan addresses increases in the square footage of academic facilities and student housing, as well as revisions to the circulation system. The environmental issues of particular concern included aesthetics, transportation, noise, and biological resources. The EIR addressed a number of conditional use permit conditions, inasmuch as many of the permitted features were incorporated into the Master Plan. The project involved an extensive community outreach component, which included newsletters and community workshops. Two different newsletters were created and distributed to the public to help simplify and explain the vast amounts of information that was addressed in the large report.