Santa Barbara County outlines goals for open space element update

County staff and facilitators used a virtual workshop on Aug. 20 to explain what the county will include in an update to the open space element of the general plan and to solicit community values and priorities.

"An open space element is one of eight required elements of a general plan," Julie Harris, the county project manager for the update, said in her presentation. Harris said the process will identify community values, update inventories and maps, and propose high-level goals and policies rather than project-level prescriptions.

The county emphasized that the update will comply with state requirements in Senate Bill 1425 to address access to open space, equity and climate resilience while avoiding duplication with related efforts such as the recreation master plan and the upcoming conservation element. Harris said the element will include prioritized action items and programs intended to inform future planning and potential implementation work.

County staff said the draft will be released for public review ahead of hearings and that additional workshops and comment opportunities will be made available, though not as part of an Environmental Impact Report comment period. The workshop leaders urged residents and stakeholders to complete a public survey that closes the following week to ensure input is captured in the synthesis.

The presentation also listed the six open-space categories state law requires planners to consider — preservation of natural resources; managed production (including agriculture and mineral resources); outdoor recreation; public health and safety; support for military installations; and protection of certain Native American places — and explained that the county will focus on high-level policy directions to support those categories.