Santa Barbara Creeks Advisory Committee reviews draft citywide creek buffer ordinance; staff seek public input, no vote taken

City of Santa Barbara staff presented a draft citywide creek buffer ordinance to the Creeks Advisory Committee and invited committee feedback and public comment; the committee took no formal action and staff said they will revise the draft after the public comment period ends.

Melissa Hetrick, resilience program supervisor for the City of Santa Barbara, told the committee that “the benefits of creek buffers are that they reduce public safety risks associated with ... erosion and flooding from fast moving creeks,” and that the draft is intended to provide clear, objective standards to replace a case-by-case approach tied to technical reports.

The draft would apply citywide except in the airport area, staff said, and mirrors buffer distances already certified in the Coastal Land Use Plan for the coastal zone. Proposed minimum buffer distances in the draft ordinance are 50 feet from top of bank for listed major creeks, 35 feet adjacent to public flood-control project reaches, and 15 feet for minor creeks. Staff said the ordinance applies only to daylighted (above-ground) creek reaches and that the public map provided is a screening map, not the final on-the-ground determination.

Why it matters: staff said clear, objective buffers were recommended by the city’s housing element and put into the Coastal Land Use Plan to reduce uncertainty for applicants and to better protect creek habitat, water quality and public safety. Melissa Hetrick outlined the approval path: after revision following…