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Planning commission recommends ALUCP updates and coastal oil‑and‑gas code cleanup to Board of Supervisors
Summary
The commission voted to forward comprehensive plan and zoning updates aligning county code with recently adopted airport land‑use compatibility plans for five county airports and recommended coastal code language additions to reflect the Board’s phase‑one prohibition on new onshore oil and gas wells; commissioners debated notice practices and potential effects on housing‑element sites.
The Santa Barbara County Planning Commission on July 1 recommended that the Board of Supervisors adopt a package of amendments to align local comprehensive plan text, zoning maps and the coastal land use plan with newly adopted airport land use compatibility plans (ALUCPs) and to clean up coastal oil‑and‑gas language tied to the board’s phase‑one prohibition on new onshore wells.
Planning staff explained the shift from older ‘‘approach/clear’’ overlay zones to a new six‑zone airport safety model (safety zones 1–6), with stricter development, height and density limits closer to runways and lighter restrictions farther out. The package updates maps and ordinances to add an airport safety overlay, lists compatibility levels (compatible, conditionally compatible, incompatible) for defined uses, includes new noise‑mitigation and recorded overflight notification requirements for new residential development, and repeals an outdated ‘‘no‑build corridor.’’ The County’s Airport Land Use Commission (ALUC) reviewed the amendments and found them consistent on May 21, 2026.
Alex Tuttle and Ben Singer of Long Range Planning told commissioners the updates are intended to return local consistency determinations to county staff (after the regional ALUC had responsibility), to reflect updated noise contours and safety guidance, and to provide a consolidated appendix of defined uses and compatibility tables.
Commissioners focused questions on possible effects for sites rezoned under the county housing element and on owner notification. Commissioner Park asked whether safety‑zone constraints would unexpectedly reduce entitlements for housing‑element sites; staff said the ALUCPs were already in place when many rezones were approved in 2023–2024 and that project projections accounted for the applicable constraints. Park and others asked whether the county should use more robust direct notice to property owners for a change that affects thousands of parcels; staff said newspaper notices and email outreach were used given the geographic scale and that the regional ALUC adoption in 2023 already placed constraints into effect.
On coastal oil and gas, staff explained the action was a ‘‘cleanup’’ to ensure the coastal land use plan language matches recent amendments to the Coastal Act and the Board’s phase‑one zoning prohibitions (the phase‑one package restricts new onshore exploratory and production wells). The planning commission voted to forward the amendments, including additional Coastal Act section references (30260, 30262 and 30263), to the Board of Supervisors for consideration and ultimately for Coastal Commission certification where required.
Action taken: Commissioners voted to recommend the ALUCP comprehensive‑plan and zoning amendments to the Board of Supervisors (motion carried), and separately recommended forwarding the coastal oil‑and‑gas cleanup amendments to the Board (motion passed 3‑1).
Commissioners directed staff to include the revised statutory references in the package the board will review and noted the Board will receive the full package for adoption and submittal to the Coastal Commission for certification where applicable.
