2 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Santa Barbara County, California.
Verified from official government sources
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.
Cal. 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...
Unincorporated Santa Barbara County is a participating NFIP community (CID 060331) that governs development in mapped Special Flood Hazard Areas through Santa Barbara County Code Chapter 15A - Floodplain Management Regulations, which adopts by reference the FEMA Flood Insurance Study and Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs). The County Floodplain Administrator must review every development permit within an SFHA. Substantial improvements (50 percent or more of pre-damage market value) trigger full compliance, and lowest floors must be elevated to or above the Base Flood Elevation. After the January 9, 2018 Montecito Debris Flow and 2023 atmospheric-river floods, the County rigorously enforces floodplain rules along Mission, San Ysidro, Romero, Cold Spring, and Montecito Creeks, the Santa Ynez River, Santa Maria River, and coastal flood zones. FEMA released a preliminary FIRM on March 26, 2024 for portions of the County and City of Santa Barbara.
1 cities in Santa Barbara County have their own environmental rules rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
See every category we cover for Santa Barbara County — parking, noise, fences, fires, animals, pools, and more.
Santa Barbara County Ordinance Hub →