Ordinance committee forwards ordinance to make nine Cabrillo Landing commercial-fishing slips nontransferable

The Santa Barbara Ordinance Committee on Aug. 5 voted unanimously to forward to City Council a proposed ordinance amending the Santa Barbara Municipal Code to designate nine commercial-fishing slips at Cabrillo Landing Dock in the Santa Barbara Harbor as nontransferable.

Cesar Barrios, the Waterfront Business Manager, told the committee he was presenting “a recommendation to amend Title 17 of the municipal code pertaining to transfer slip permits in the Santa Barbara Harbor, specifically designating 9 commercial fishing slips located in the Cabrillo Landing Dock as non transferable.” He said the change would fold the Cabrillo Landing slips into the city’s commercial-fishing slip policy and allow current eligible occupants to continue operating under that policy while preventing private sale or transfer of those permits.

The committee heard that the area at Cabrillo Landing has been governed under a license agreement held by the California Sea Urchin Commission since 1987 and that the license expired on Aug. 31, 2024 and is currently on holdover status. Barrios said the Waterfront Department and the licensee, along with the Harbor Commission’s commercial-fishing working group, mutually agreed to end the license arrangement and transition the nine slips into the city’s commercial-fishing permit framework. Barrios said the change is intended to “promote sustainable commercial fishing practice in the harbor” and to provide dock space for seasonal and new commercial fishers.

Under the proposed approach, existing eligible vessel owners listed on the most recent license agreement would be eligible for commercial-fishing slips under the city policy. Barrios summarized eligibility requirements discussed for commercial-fishing slips: vessels must be operable and owned by active commercial fishers, slips at Cabrillo Landing are sized for a 30-foot maximum vessel length, and permit holders must show $15,000 in cash to the department every two years as part of continued eligibility. He also said a slip returned to the city would be assigned through a commercial-fishing slip lottery and that winners of that lottery would not pay a transfer fee to the department.

Council members focused questions on how the lottery and any waiting list would work. Barrios said the city does not have an active official waiting list for commercial-fishing slips at this time and that, while there are people interested, “officially, to my understanding, they’re not in this list because the list there hasn’t been activity within this list.” He confirmed the nontransferability proposal is new for these slips: “it does not exist. So, this is a new, at least with this process.”

Several committee members urged staff to develop a lottery framework that could give additional priority to applicants who have waited longer or who already participate in the harbor, suggesting a tiered or points-based system rather than a purely equal-chance drawing. Barrios and committee members agreed staff could return with a proposed lottery implementation and related policy language when the ordinance is presented to council.

Council Member Jordan moved and Council Member Gutierrez seconded a motion to forward the ordinance to the City Council for introduction, with staff to present how the lottery system will work and to consider committee comments on tiering or priority. The committee clerk recorded that the motion passed unanimously.

Next steps identified in the meeting record: staff will present the ordinance amendment to City Council (the presentation was scheduled for the Aug. 12 council meeting) and will prepare proposed procedures for the commercial-fishing slip lottery and any priority or tiering system for the council discussion.

The committee’s action changes only how those nine Cabrillo Landing slips will be governed (by the city’s commercial-fishing slip policy and Title 17) and does not itself modify any council resolutions; Barrios said implementation will include repealing the existing resolutions that governed the licensed arrangement.