Planning Commission upholds staff approvals for 3139 Seacliff soil remediation over neighbor appeals

The Santa Barbara Planning Commission on Dec. 18 denied an appeal of the staff hearing officer’s Oct. 15 approval of a coastal development permit for soil remediation at 3139 Seacliff and affirmed the city’s categorical CEQA exemption for the cleanup, voting 4‑0. Commissioners added conditions requiring city review of erosion‑and‑sediment controls to prevent site runoff prior to grading permit issuance, expanded neighborhood notification and strengthened air‑quality monitoring and stop‑work procedures.

Staff presented the project as a remedial action to remove contaminated soil left from a former orchid nursery. Associate Planner Carly Ernest said the plan calls for excavation of shallow, targeted areas (depths cited at about 12–36 inches), export of 2,225 cubic yards of contaminated soil, and regrading and replanting with 55 replacement trees. Staff said qualified technical studies — a biological resources assessment, arborist report, erosion‑control plan and a remedial action plan reviewed by county Environmental Health Services (EHS) — support the city’s finding that the cleanup fits CEQA’s Class 30 categorical exemption for small or medium removal actions (§15330).

“County Environmental Health reviewed the remedial action plan and confirmed it complies with current regulatory cleanup levels,” said Tom Razek of the Santa Barbara County site mitigation…