Tiny home rules in Santa Barbara, CA — covering tiny houses on wheels (THOWs), park model RVs, and tiny home on foundation builds — determine where they are legal and how they get permitted.
The City of Santa Barbara has no separate 'tiny home' zoning category. A permanently founded small dwelling is regulated as an ADU under Municipal Code 30.185.040, which sets a 150 sq ft efficiency-unit minimum and requires an approved permanent foundation. Tiny homes on wheels (RVs) cannot be used as permanent dwellings.
Santa Barbara's municipal code does not define or separately permit 'tiny homes'; a small standalone dwelling is treated as an accessory dwelling unit under Section 30.185.040. A newly constructed ADU has a minimum floor area of 150 sq ft for an efficiency unit, 220 sq ft for a studio, and 400 sq ft for all other units, and an ADU created by converting an existing structure has a 150 sq ft minimum and must meet the efficiency-unit definition. Both attached and detached ADUs must be 'constructed with an approved permanent foundation' (Section 30.185.040.F.5), which means a tiny house on wheels does not qualify as a permitted dwelling. The ordinance does allow a manufactured home (as defined in Health and Safety Code Section 18007) to serve as an ADU, and an efficiency unit as defined in Health and Safety Code Section 17958.1. A tiny home meeting the ADU standards is approved ministerially, needs no parking in most cases, and must connect to public sewer and water. A recreational vehicle used for sleeping or human habitation is restricted under the City's parking and camping rules and is not a lawful permanent residence. Because there is no city-specific 'tiny home' ordinance, the practical path to a small permanent dwelling in the City of Santa Barbara is the ADU/JADU process. This is consistent with California ADU law, which the City implements.
Living in a tiny house on wheels or an RV as a permanent dwelling, or placing a movable tiny structure without an approved permanent foundation and ADU permit, violates the Municipal Code and can prompt code-enforcement action.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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The Fence Guidelines set height and location but defer the exact material, color, width and style to design-review boards. Front-yard fences, walls and gates...
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No fence, screen, wall or hedge over 3.5 feet may stand in a driveway visibility triangle: 10 ft along the driveway and 10 ft back from the front lot line wh...
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Residential retaining walls not over 4 feet (footing to top) are permit-exempt unless they support a surcharge or impound flammable liquids. Where a fence si...
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The City of Santa Barbara addresses animal hoarding through its care-and-keeping and nuisance provisions plus California's anti-cruelty law. Keeping animals ...
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The City of Santa Barbara does not publish a dedicated wildlife-feeding ban in its general animal regulations, but feeding wild animals can create a public n...
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The City of Santa Barbara requires a license for each unaltered cat over four months old, obtained from the City. There is no leash requirement for cats. Red...
See how Santa Barbara's tiny homes rules stack up against other locations.
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