Santa Barbara County, CA Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Sec. 17-10 makes it unlawful to place, keep or bury any solid waste, in or under any premises except in containers as provided in this chapter, and separately bars anyone from throwing or depositing litter on any open or vacant property, or private property within the county, aside from waste kept in the containers, commercial bins, or roll-off boxes the chapter allows. Sec. 17-66 then declares that any solid waste or litter sitting on a lot outside an approved container is a public nuisance. Once the public works director or an authorized representative finds a nuisance, Sec.

17-67 requires posting a notice on the property at least ten days before a board of supervisors hearing, and mailing notice to the owner of record; if the nuisance is an immediate danger to health or safety, the director can authorize abatement up to $5,000 without waiting for that hearing. If the board confirms the nuisance after the hearing, Sec. 17-70 lets the director clean up the property directly or hire a contractor, and Sec. 17-71 turns the cost, plus an administrative fee set by the board, into a special assessment collected on the owner's property tax bill.

Property with no producer of the waste that is more than 100 feet from a public roadway can be exempted from owner liability under the rural-property carve-out in Sec. 17-9(b) if the county public works director confirms the waste was dumped by someone else.