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Board acknowledges Coastal Commission certification of Sonoma County Local Coastal Plan; directs implementation work
Summary
After a multi-year rewrite and extensive public outreach, the Board acknowledged the Coastal Commission’s conditional certification of the county Local Coastal Plan and directed staff to incorporate Commission edits and proceed with implementation including administrative and zoning code steps.
The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors acknowledged the California Coastal Commission’s conditional certification of the county’s Local Coastal Plan (LCP) and directed permit Sonoma staff to incorporate the Commission’s edits and proceed with the implementation program and coastal zoning code updates.
Permit Sonoma staff summarized a decade-long update process that began with a draft in 2015 and culminated in a county adoption in July 2023. The Coastal Commission’s November 14, 2024 action conditionally certified the document subject to staff-recommended modifications. Staff said edits are mostly organizational and clarifying, with substantive refinements in areas including coastal hazards, habitat protection, agricultural operation thresholds and new policies on environmental justice and lower-cost overnight accommodations.
Staff told the Board the Coastal Commission removed a proposed local exclusion for certain Cal Fire and timber-related vegetation management activities from the LCP itself, noting that exclusion orders are issued separately by the Coastal Commission and are not created through the LCP. Staff said the LCP and the county’s administrative manual and coastal zoning code will be the next implementation steps; those steps are the appropriate place to add administrative detail such as permit waivers, exclusion order clarifications and categorical exclusions.
Public comment included ranchers and agricultural representatives who asked for clear protections for longstanding grazing operations and for guidance that ensures routine agricultural activities (fences, grazing, repair of existing improvements) are not treated as new development requiring coastal permits. County staff and commissioners said implementation-phase work will address those concerns by clarifying how the county will apply exclusion orders and by developing administrative guidance for staff and the public.
Chair Hopkins moved that the Board acknowledge receipt of the Coastal Commission’s certification resolution and findings, direct staff to incorporate the Commission’s modifications into the LCP as certified, and to proceed with the implementation program and zoning code work. Supervisor Gore seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
Votes: Motion to acknowledge the Coastal Commission’s conditional certification and direct staff to incorporate modifications and proceed with implementation (mover: Chair Hopkins; second: Supervisor Gore) — Outcome: approved unanimously.
