Santa Barbara County, CA Parking Rules: Preferential Parking Districts (2026)
Key Facts
- Authority
- Sec. 23B-3 (board of supervisors resolution)
- Issuer
- County sheriff's department
- Permits
- 1 per vehicle + 2 guest permits
- Duration
- Up to 3 years, renewable
- Fine
- Up to $100 per violation (23B-13)
- Isla Vista track
- Separate rules, Sec. 23B-15
Summary
In identified unincorporated residential areas facing chronic nonresident parking congestion, the board of supervisors may create a permit parking district by resolution under County Code Sec. 23B-3. Residents and merchants get preferential on-street parking privileges; the sheriff's department issues permits, and violators face infraction fines starting at one hundred dollars.
...the Santa Barbara County board of supervisors (board of supervisors) may designate by resolution any area of the unincorporated area of the County of Santa Barbara, which meets the criteria established by this chapter, as a permit parking area wherein the stopping, parking or standing of vehicles is prohibited or restricted on certain streets or highways, or portions thereof, during all or certain hours of the day, and giving preferential parking privileges to residents and merchants adjacent to the streets for their use and the use of their guests... A violation of this section shall constitute grounds for permit revocation and shall be an infraction punishable by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars for each violation of this section.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 44 Update 1).
Full Breakdown
5 (Sec. 23B-1). Designation happens by resolution after the public works department studies the area and produces a written report weighing the criteria in Sec. 23B-4: how much residents and merchants want and need permit parking, how much on-street capacity is being consumed by nonresident vehicles, and how the area's size and layout affect enforcement. Once a district is designated, the resolution can restrict or prohibit parking on the covered streets during all or specified hours while exempting vehicles that display a valid permit (Sec.
23B-3). The sheriff's department handles applications and issues the permits (Sec. 23B-7): one permit per resident or business vehicle, plus up to two guest permits per household or business, and permits are valid up to three years and renewable (Sec. 23B-8). Program costs are recovered through fees set by board resolution (Sec. 23B-9). A separate track, Sec. 23B-15, runs the Isla Vista permit parking program with its own annual, short-term, and guest permit categories, a low-income discount, and permits capped to vehicles no larger than three-quarter-ton trucks under seven feet six inches tall and twenty-two feet long.
Violations & Fines
Parking without a displayed permit in a designated permit zone, or violating a posted restriction, is an infraction under Sec. 23B-13 punishable by a fine of up to one hundred dollars per violation, and the violation also supports revoking the permit. Using a counterfeit, altered, transferred, or borrowed permit, or lying on a permit application, is likewise a violation of Sec. 23B-13; the Isla Vista track under Sec. 23B-15 escalates to two hundred dollars for a second offense and five hundred dollars for each additional offense within a year.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does a neighborhood get a permit parking district in Santa Barbara County?
Who issues the parking permits?
What's the fine for parking in a permit zone without a permit?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Santa Barbara County
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