Local Coastal Program

Local Coastal Program

The California Coastal Act of 1976 (Coastal Act) establishes goals and provisions for a designated Coastal Zone along the entire California coastline. Within the City of Santa Barbara, the Coastal Zone generally extends inland half a mile from the ocean and includes about six miles of the City’s shoreline. Approximately 70% of the City’s Coastal Zone is held in public ownership, including numerous beaches and parks, an extensive public waterfront, and a full working harbor.

Development in the Coastal Zone is reviewed for compliance with the City’s Local Coastal Program and the Coastal Act.

The City’s Local Coastal Program (LCP) has two parts:

• A Coastal Land Use Plan (LUP), which includes the kind, location, density and intensity of land uses within the Coastal Zone and coastal access and coastal resource protection policies and development standards; and

• An Implementation Plan (IP), which includes development standards and other ordinances relating to coastal access and coastal resource protection, and maps that delineate zoning districts within the Coastal Zone.

LCP Documents

Coastal Zone Jurisdiction

• Click Here to view the Jurisdictional Boundary Map

Airport Coastal LUP

• Click here to view the complete 2003 City of Santa Barbara Coastal Plan: Airport and Goleta Slough

Contiguous City Coastal LUP

In August, 2019, the California Coastal Commission (CCC) certified the City's updated Coastal LUP. For the most part, the updated Coastal LUP carries forward policies that already exist in other City planning documents and regulations. New policies document the criteria and interpretations being used today for the review and approval of Coastal Development Permits, clarify development standards for traditionally complicated topics such as development near coastal bluffs and creeks, and address emerging issues for the City.

Complete Coastal LUP

• Click Here (43 MB) to view the complete 2019 Coastal Land Use Plan

Coastal LUP Chapters

• Acknowledgements (< 1 MB)

• Table of Contents (< 1 MB)

• Chapter 1.1 The Coastal Act (< 1 MB)

• Chapter 1.2 Santa Barbara Local Coastal Program (< 1 MB)

• Chapter 1.3 Santa Barbara’s Coastal Zone (29 MB)

• Chapter 2.1 Land Use & Development (2 MB)

• Chapter 2.2 Coastal-Dependent & Related Development (2 MB)

• Chapter 3.1 Public Access (3 MB)

• Chapter 3.2 Visitor-Serving & Recreational Facilities (3 MB)

• Chapter 4.1 Biological Resources (14 MB)

• Chapter 4.2 Water Quality (14 MB)

• Chapter 4.3 Scenic Resources & Visual Quality (2 MB)

• Chapter 4.4 Cultural Resources (3 MB)

• Chapter 5.1 Coastal Hazards (4 MB)

• Chapter 6.1 Public Works & Energy Facilities (< 1 MB)

• Chapter 6.2 Highway 101 (< 1 MB)

• Chapter 7.1 Bibliography (< 1 MB)

• Chapter 8.1 Determining Creek Top of Bank (< 1 MB)

Coastal IP

• Click Here to view the complete 1986 Implementation Plan