Santa Barbara planning commission initiates ordinance change to create local register and preserve historic buildings

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The Santa Barbara Planning Commission voted unanimously on Nov. 13 to initiate zoning-code amendments that replace the term "Historic Resources Inventory" with "Local Register of Historic Resources," a change staff says is needed to align the city's definitions with state law and avoid immediate exemptions from environmental review for some housing projects.

Nicole Hernandez, the city architectural historian, told commissioners that AB 130, signed by Gov. Newsom on June 30, 2025, creates a statutory CEQA exemption for certain housing projects unless the affected properties are listed on a national, state or local register before a preliminary application is submitted. "Properties must be placed on a national, state, or local register before preliminary application is submitted for a housing project," Hernandez said. She warned that without matching terminology the city's inventory could be argued not to qualify as a "register," leaving more than 700 identified buildings vulnerable to demolition without environmental review.

Why it matters: The change is procedural in form but…