Santa Barbara County, CA Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Density Bonus Law (2026)

020 (Eligibility) sets who qualifies. A housing development of five or more residential units, including mixed-use projects, qualifies if it includes at least one of: a specified percentage of units for lower-, very low-, moderate-, or lower- and moderate-income households under Government Code Section 65915(b)(1)(A),(B),(D), and (G); a senior citizen housing development under Section 65915(b)(1)(C); an age-restricted mobile home park under the same subsection; 10 percent of units for transitional foster youth, disabled veterans, or homeless persons under Section 65915(b)(1)(E); or 20 percent of units for lower-income students in an eligible student housing development under Section 65915(b)(1)(F).

080. 030 ties the density-increase percentage to the state formula in Government Code Section 65915(f), though the Department may grant an even larger bonus at its discretion. 040, an eligible project can also request one to five additional incentives or concessions, such as a reduced setback, a zoning modification, mixed-use approval, or another regulatory concession that produces an identifiable cost reduction, which the Department must grant unless it makes a written finding that the request does not actually reduce affordable-housing costs, harms public health, safety, or a historic resource with no feasible mitigation, or would conflict with state or federal law.

050 lets an applicant separately request a waiver of any development standard that would physically preclude building the project at its bonus density. F requires the applicant to record an affordable-housing agreement guaranteeing continued affordability for a minimum of 90 years for projects funded without low-income housing tax credits, or 55 years for projects using those credits.