{"id":443886,"date":"2026-08-26T09:00:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T09:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/443886\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T09:00:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T09:00:23","slug":"solvang-residents-push-back-against-proposed-glamping-resort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/443886\/","title":{"rendered":"Solvang residents push back against proposed glamping resort"},"content":{"rendered":"

A proposal to turn an old lumber yard into a \u201cglamping\u201d resort in the beautiful Danish-themed California tourist town<\/a> of Solvang has residents and city leaders ready to fight back.<\/p>\n

Members of the city\u2019s Design Review Committee met Thursday to discuss plans for an Airstream hotel<\/a> on the 2.19-acre property of the former Solvang Lumberyard at 1783 and 1793 Mission Drive.<\/p>\n

The proposed resort would feature 31 Airstream spots, along with a bar, lounge, hotel lobby and two hotel suites.<\/p>\n

Plans also call for a pool, showers, restrooms and even a military-style lookout tower.<\/p>\n

Despite the fact that the place is considered lodging, critics are concerned an airstream trailer park is nothing more than a trailer park. Obtained by the CA Post<\/p>\n

A proposal to turn an old lumber yard into a glamping resort in the beautiful Danish-themed California tourist town of Solvang has residents and city leaders ready to fight back. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The proposal came before the committee as part of a pre-application review.<\/p>\n

But the project is already running into resistance \u2014 particularly because the property sits in an area where city rules require historic Spanish Mission-style architecture, Noozehawk<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n

Committee members said the proposed resort would need to incorporate the distinctive design into the project.<\/p>\n

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Critics, meanwhile, say calling the project a lodging development doesn\u2019t change what they see as a glorified trailer park.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it looks like a trailer park and it gleams like a trailer park, in spite of the categorization of a lodging, it\u2019s a trailer park,\u201d said Dennis Beebe, president of Santa Ynez Valley Citizens Council.<\/p>\n

\u201cI find it completely inappropriate for downtown Solvang.\u201d<\/p>\n

Committee member, Jennifer Johnson, objected to the proposal too.<\/p>\n

Members of the city\u2019s Design Review Committee met on Thursday to discuss plans to allow for an Airstream hotel on the 2.19 acre property of the old Solvang Lumberyard at 1783 and 1793 Mission Drive. Obtained by the CA Post<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if I was going to go camping, which I did all my life growing up, I would never go in an Airstream,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n

Local resident Susan Belloni agreed that the \u201cglamping\u201d potential wouldn\u2019t fit with the character of the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I don\u2019t see that 31 mid-century design Chinese aluminum airstream trailers have anything in common with Spanish colonial revival architecture,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She also expressed concern the proposed lookout tower rendering looks like an \u201cold West military fortress\u201d that doesn\u2019t fit.<\/p>\n

Colorful Danish-style buildings line a street in Solvang, California. (Moment RF) Getty Images<\/p>\n

Phil Stevens, who represented the applicant, agreed with critics about the look of the proposed project, vowing to go back to the drawing board to \u201cstrike a better balance.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is just the latest drama in the small town that\u2019s recently tore itself apart over a tourism app owned and developed by Solvang mayor David Brown.<\/p>\n

The dispute centered on \u201dSolvang Passport<\/a>\u201d which promoted selected businesses and attractions in the popular Santa Barbara County destination \u2014 often called the \u201cDanish capital of America.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

It is only the latest drama in the small town that\u2019s recently tore itself apart over a tourism app owned and developed by Solvang mayor David Brown.<\/p>\n

Some City Council members said Brown\u2019s involvement created an ethical problem in a town that relies on tourism.<\/p>\n

But supporters argued the app is just another way to attract visitors and help local businesses, reported Newspress.<\/a><\/p>\n

Brown has since removed the city-related content, added a disclaimer stating the app is not affiliated with the city, and said he is considering stepping back from managing the platform or licensing it to another company.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A proposal to turn an old lumber yard into a \u201cglamping\u201d resort in the beautiful Danish-themed California tourist…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":443887,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,12160,4415,4182,5277,3586],"class_list":["post-443886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-camping","tag-mayor","tag-metro","tag-tourism","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=443886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443886\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/443887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=443886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=443886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}