Santa Barbara County, CA Environmental Rules: Coastal Development (2026)

The California Coastal Act of 1976 (Public Resources Code Section 30000 et seq.) establishes a Coastal Zone along the entire California coastline and requires each of the 15 coastal counties and 53 coastal cities to prepare a Local Coastal Program (LCP) that is certified by the California Coastal Commission. Santa Barbara County's LCP consists of (1) the Coastal Land Use Plan (CLUP), originally certified in 1980, which sets policy on land use, public access, recreation, marine resources, environmentally sensitive habitat areas, visual resources, and shoreline development; and (2) the Coastal Zoning Ordinance, codified as Article II of the County's zoning code (running in parallel with the inland LUDC), which implements the CLUP through specific zoning standards and the Coastal Development Permit process. Separate Coastal Plans apply in Toro Canyon, Eastern Goleta Valley, Summerland, and other certified subareas. (1) PERMIT REQUIREMENT. With limited exemptions (some repair and maintenance, some single-family residences on already-developed lots that meet specified criteria, certain replacement-in-kind work, agriculture on Williamson Act parcels), a Coastal Development Permit is required for any 'development' in the Coastal Zone, defined broadly under Coastal Act Section 30106 to include construction, grading, excavation, change of use, change of intensity of use, removal of major vegetation, and certain agricultural activities. (2) STANDARDS OF REVIEW. The CDP must be consistent with the CLUP, the Coastal Zoning Ordinance, and (for the Gaviota Coast and other deferred-certification areas, plus appealable parcels) the Coastal Act Chapter 3 policies on public access (Coastal Act Sections 30210-30214), recreation (30220-30224), marine environment (30230-30237), land resources (30240-30244), and development (30250-30255). Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Areas (ESHAs) - native oaks and chaparral on coastal hillsides, coastal sage scrub, wetlands, riparian corridors, dune systems, monarch butterfly aggregation sites, and significant tide pools - receive especially strict protection under Coastal Act Section 30240. (3) PUBLIC ACCESS AND HAZARDS. Coastal Act Section 30253 requires new development to assure stability and structural integrity, neither create nor contribute to erosion, geologic instability, or destruction of the site or surrounding area, nor require construction of protective devices that would substantially alter natural landforms along bluffs and cliffs. Public access requirements (Sections 30210-30214) often produce easement or fee dedications for new shoreline development. (4) APPEALS. Many County CDP decisions are appealable to the California Coastal Commission, particularly those within the 'appeal zone' (between the sea and the first public road paralleling the sea, on tidelands, submerged lands, or public trust lands, on properties in or adjacent to ESHA, or for major public works). The Commission may also issue permits directly in 'areas of deferred certification' (most of the Gaviota Coast). (5) SEA LEVEL RISE. Recent CLUP amendments and the State of California Sea Level Rise Guidance (OPC, updated 2024) require analysis of sea-level-rise impacts over the life of new shoreline development, with conditions to relocate, retrofit, or remove structures as sea levels rise. (6) AFTER-THE-FACT VIOLATIONS. The County and Coastal Commission both pursue Coastal Act enforcement; daily civil penalties under Coastal Act Sections 30820-30822 can be very substantial.