For more than a year the Santa Maria City Council has debated where H-2A farmworkers should be located. The council has directed city staff to draft an ordinance that would allow seven or more H-2A workers in an R-1 or a low-density single-family housing zone. They would be subject to a conditional use permit. Neighbors within a 300-foot radius would also be notified by city officials. The first reading of the ordinance will take place at the next city council meeting. Council members will, at some point, have the conversion of turning hotels and motels into seasonal worker housing.