Environmental Rules in Santa Barbara County, CA (2026)
5 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Santa Barbara County, California.
Verified from official government sources
Stormwater Management
Chapter 29, Article IV of the County Code bans any non-storm water discharge into the county's storm drain system that causes or contributes to a water quality violation, and separately bans dumping refuse or litter where it can wash into that system. The public works department enforces it countywide in the unincorporated area.
Santa Barbara County Stormwater Discharge Rules
Significant RestrictionsSanta Barbara County Code Sec. 29-47
(a)Waste Disposal Prohibitions. No person shall effect or permit the throwing, depositing, leaving, maintaining, or keeping, or permit to be thrown, deposited, left or maintained any refuse, rubbish, garbage, litter, or other discarded or abandoned objects, and accumulations in or upon any public or private property, driveway, parking area, street, road, alley, sidewalk, component of the storm ...
Erosion Control
Any grading project in unincorporated Santa Barbara County must have an approved erosion and sediment control plan, or an equivalent state SWPPP, under County Code Sec. 14-29. During the rainy season, November 1 through April 15, no grading can occur unless approved erosion control measures are already in place.
Santa Barbara County Erosion & Sediment Control Rules
Some RestrictionsSanta Barbara County Code Sec. 14-29
(a)An erosion and sediment control plan shall be required as part of the grading plan and permit requirements. The plan shall incorporate applicable county-approved best management practices. In lieu of the erosion and sediment control plan, the county may accept a SWPPP, prepared for the state, if it contains the requirements of the county's erosion and sediment control plan. ... (d)The erosio...
Coastal Development
Santa Barbara County has roughly 110 miles of Pacific coastline (the Gaviota Coast, Refugio, El Capitan, Goleta, Hope Ranch coastal areas, Mesa, Mission Canyon coastal slopes, Montecito coastal, Summerland coastal, Carpinteria coastal, Rincon Point). Almost all development in the County's coastal zone requires a Coastal Development Permit (CDP) under the California Coastal Act of 1976 (California Public Resources Code Section 30000 et seq.) and the County's California Coastal Commission-certified Local Coastal Program (LCP), which consists of the Coastal Land Use Plan (CLUP) and the Coastal Zoning Ordinance / Article II Coastal Zoning. Santa Barbara County Planning and Development administers CDPs in unincorporated coastal areas, while the City of Santa Barbara and other coastal cities administer CDPs within their own boundaries. Many County CDP decisions are appealable to the California Coastal Commission.
Coastal Development Permits in Santa Barbara County
Some RestrictionsCal. Pub. Res. Code § 30103 - California Coastal Act; Coastal Zone Boundary
Public Resources Code (PRC) Section 30103(a) specifically defines California's Coastal Zone as that land and water area of the State of California from the Oregon border to the border of the Republic of Mexico depicted on maps identified and set forth in Section 17 of that chapter of the Statutes of the 1975-76 Regular Session enacting PRC Division 20 (the Coastal Act of 1976). PRC Section 3010...
Flood Zones
Building, filling, grading or any other development on an unincorporated-area parcel inside a FEMA-mapped Special Flood Hazard Area requires a development permit under County Code Chapter 15A before work starts. The floodplain administrator, based in the flood control district, reviews plans against the effective Flood Insurance Rate Map, and building without a permit is a chargeable misdemeanor.
Santa Barbara County Floodplain Development Permits
Some RestrictionsSanta Barbara County Code Sec. 15A-8
No structure or land shall thereafter be constructed, located, extended, converted, or altered without full compliance with the terms of this chapter. It shall be unlawful for any person to violate any provision or to fail to comply with any of the mandatory requirements (including violations of conditions and safeguards established in connection with conditions) of this chapter. A violation of...
Flood Elevation Requirements
New construction and substantially improved buildings in a Santa Barbara County special flood hazard area must have the lowest floor, including any basement, built two feet above the base flood elevation, the county's freeboard standard under Code Sec. 15A-16. Manufactured homes and recreational vehicles placed in flood zones must meet the same two-foot elevation.
Santa Barbara County Base Flood Elevation Freeboard
Some RestrictionsSanta Barbara County Code Sec. 15A-16(c)(1)
New construction, substantial improvement and other proposed new development shall have the lowest floor, including basement, elevated two feet above the base flood elevation (BFE), unless such minimum elevation is lowered by the floodplain administrator at his discretion (but not below the BFE). Nonresidential structures may meet the standards in subsection (c)(3) of this section. Prior to ere...
Environmental Rules by City in Santa Barbara County
1 cities in Santa Barbara County have their own environmental rules rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
All Santa Barbara County ordinances
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