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Board backs ballot measure to update "blue wall" ordinance to include seabed mining and offshore infrastructure
Summary
Supervisors voted to place a revised 1986 ordinance on the November ballot that would require voter approval for any onshore facilities serving offshore oil, gas or deep-sea mining; Save Our Shores and legal advisers told the board the update strengthens local protections and is legally defensible.
The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors voted June 9 to place a revised "blue wall" ordinance on the November 3, 2026 ballot, asking voters whether to require a countywide vote before approving onshore facilities that would support offshore oil, gas or deep-sea mining.
The proposal: Supervisor Cummings introduced the measure update, which would amend Chapter 16.55 of the County Code to expand the 1986 ordinance's scope (originally focused on offshore oil) to explicitly cover seabed mining and related onshore infrastructure such as transport, processing, storage and waste handling. Proponents described the move as a defensive, legally durable strategy to keep local lands from being used to support extractive industries proposed at the federal level.
Why now: Speakers from Save Our Shores and an associated legal clinic told the board that the Trump administration has moved aggressively to advance offshore leasing and deep-sea mining and that local ordinances need updating to reflect recent legal developments and the new mining threat. The Stanford Mills Legal Clinic advised that a voter-approval requirement is a legally defensible local exercise of land-use authority.
What supporters said: Katie Thompson, executive director of Save Our Shores, and marine scientist Dr. George Leonard explained the federal context and historical precedent: local ordinances similar to Measure A in the 1980s helped block onshore facilities that would have supported offshore leasing. Supporters said the updated ordinance explicitly protects coastal resources, tourism and fisheries and clarifies that existing facilities are exempt from the new rule.
Board position and next steps: The supervisors voted 5-0 to adopt a resolution calling the measure for the November ballot, direct the elections official to consolidate it with the regular election, and direct staff to prepare the impartial analysis and fiscal information. Staff will transmit the measure language and materials to the county clerk by the August 7 deadline. If voters approve the measure the board directed staff to return with any necessary follow-up actions.
Public comment: Dozens of residents spoke in favor of the ballot measure at a robust public comment period, emphasizing concerns about ecological harm, the local economy and future shipping or trans-shipment infrastructure that would be needed to support ocean extraction industries.
Legal note: The board was presented with a legal memorandum from Stanford Law's Mills Clinic concluding the update is consistent with state and federal law and resistant to preemption or dormant commerce clause challenges; supporters highlighted prior appellate decisions upholding local ordinances in the 1980s as precedent.
Provenance: Board discussion and presentations by Save Our Shores and the Mills Legal Clinic at the June 9 meeting.
