Baja Montecito is the planned residential community at the heart of Baja Ecovillage. Its 27 acres straddle a wide ridge running up the north-facing slope above the seaside town of Cantú. This unique location ensures that nearly every lot offers a panoramic view of the ocean and coastline, or coastline and estuary, or estuary and valley, or valley and hills. Most lots offer at least two of these views, and many offer three.

Community features

• 55-60 single-family lots
• Lot sizes from 4300 to 13,000 sq. ft. (0.1 to 0.3 acres)
• Lots can be combined to form larger parcels
• Every lot offers wide views
• Several acres of native open space
• Neighborhood parks with picnic areas and play spaces
• Extensive trails: perimeter, between neighborhoods, into the forest park

Nearby

• next door: 54-acre forest park, and getaway cottages for visiting family and friends
• 5 minutes to groceries, restaurants, the beach
• 10 minutes to farmers market, supermarkets, pharmacies, gas stations
• 25 minutes to Costco, Home Depot, Walmart, major hospitals

Community plan (a written tour): Baja Montecito’s main gate is at the foot of the hill, a few blocks up from the highway that serves as Cantú’s main street. The entrance road, Via Torreyana, weaves up through native open space, passing La Torreyana neighborhood before turning east to join Via Montecito — our community’s main road. Here you’ll find La Bota (the boot) neighborhood, named after the park of this shape.

Continuing upward, you wind through La Zeta neighborhood, which includes a few lots with 270-degree panoramas. (Zeta — “Z” — makes sense when you drive through it.) Above this point, the slope becomes more gentle: On the right is the west-facing El Pueblo neighborhood, whose lots overlook the botanical forest park and offer views of the ocean and coastline. Across the road from El Pueblo is a large, gently sloping open space whose multipurpose future is still being planned. (Another park is likely, and we’re also considering proposals for a small senior care home, an orphanage, and a community center.)

The hill crests at Los Altos neighborhood, which includes several lots that face south to ranch land and the mountain range beyond Baja Montecito.

Development status: We’re now in the “conversion” phase, in which the land is formally converted to a subdivision whose common areas (roads, parks, open spaces, etc.) will be owned by an association of its lot owners. This conversion process, which began in 2019, also requires production of the association’s initial operating statutes, and development and use rules — all in harmony with Baja Ecovillage’s values, and in compliance with state and federal law. When this step is complete, we can begin selling lots. Our goal is to see the first lots sold in the summer of 2020.