Planning staff: 612 new-unit permits in 2025 but county still behind on some RHNA categories

Santa Barbara County planning staff told the Planning Commission on March 4 that the county issued 612 building permits for new dwelling units in 2025 but remains behind on parts of its Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA), leaving the county subject to state streamlining provisions if progress does not improve.

"In 2025, the county issued 452 building permits for new units in the South Coast and 160 new units in the North County," planner Allie Castaneda said. "Those totals include 103 ADUs in the South Coast and 123 ADUs in the North County." Alex Tuttle of Long Range Planning told commissioners the unincorporated county's RHNA for the cycle is 5,664 units (4,142 for the South Coast; 1,522 for the North County).

Staff said the county has completed 58 of 99 housing-element actions and has 38 actions in progress. Examples highlighted in the staff presentation included 12 deed-restricted affordable units produced under the inclusionary housing ordinance in 2025, the issuance of 226 ADU building permits (exceeding a forecast of 100 annually), development of four standardized preapproved ADU design plans to speed permitting, and annexation/rezone work to bring three sites into wastewater-district boundaries to remove infrastructure constraints.

Allie Castaneda and Danielle Moore explained how the county classifies units for RHNA reporting: issued building permits are the only units counted, and staff applies state affordability calculations to determine whether market-rate units fall into very low, low, moderate or above-moderate categories. Castaneda said staff's 2025 tallies show the South Coast issued 111 very-low, 195 low, 0 moderate and 146 above-moderate units (total 452), and the North County issued 101 low, 2 moderate and 57 above-moderate units (total 160).

Staff warned commissioners that slow progress on low- and very-low-income RHNA categories can subject the county to the streamlining rules of Senate Bill 423 (previously SB 35). "Because the county's slow progress in meeting low and very low income RHNA, the county is subject to 50% affordability," Castaneda said, explaining that certain streamlining eligibility would require a developer to meet prescribed affordability thresholds.

Commissioners asked detailed questions about how the county measures capacity and progress. Tuttle explained that capacity calculations include vacant sites, pending projects and ADU projections; the county built a roughly 15% buffer during rezones and set a 5% trigger that would prompt additional rezones if remaining capacity ran too low. Staff said the no-net-loss trigger had not been reached.

Commissioners also pressed staff on whether ADU permit counts reflect county policies or broader state and market drivers. Tuttle said ADU forecasts used five-year trend data and that recent ADU growth is driven largely by market demand and by state reforms that reduced permitting barriers, though county-produced preapproved ADU plan sets are intended to further ease construction and may increase ADU production.

Multiple commissioners emphasized farmworker housing as a priority. Staff said the program to pursue 100 ag-employee dwellings is in progress (led by the Community Services Department in coordination with Planning) but reported limited construction to date and said further ordinance review and barrier reduction are planned.

The commission voted 5-0 to receive and file the APR and authorize staff to submit the report to the Board of Supervisors, the Governor's Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation and the California Department of Housing and Community Development. Staff also asked the commission to find that preparing the APR is an administrative activity not subject to CEQA.