Oak ordinance: ag land only
The county's tree protection ordinance covers deciduous oaks only on agricultural-zoned land — development projects that remove oaks must address impacts through environmental review, not a standard removal permit.
California county profile
Santa Barbara County's environmental review is anchored to a locally published Environmental Thresholds and Guidelines Manual that supplements the state's standard checklist — and the county's particulate matter nonattainment status means dust controls are required on every discretionary project, regardless of size.
The county's tree protection ordinance covers deciduous oaks only on agricultural-zoned land — development projects that remove oaks must address impacts through environmental review, not a standard removal permit.
Because the county is in nonattainment for particulate matter air standards, fugitive dust control measures are required on all discretionary projects — there's no minimum size threshold. Even a modest residential grading project must implement a dust mitigation plan.
After the Thomas Fire burned the mountains above Montecito, a catastrophic debris flow destroyed over a hundred homes in minutes. Projects in or below fire-burned terrain must now assess post-fire debris flow risk as a separate hazard — distinct from the fire hazard itself.
The county's coastline west of Santa Barbara includes some of the longest remaining undeveloped rural coast in southern California, governed by a Gaviota Coast Plan that took more than a decade to adopt and imposes specific conditions on what can be developed there.
The county's stormwater rules follow Central Coast requirements that kick in at a very small amount of new impervious surface — one of the lowest triggers in California — so even modest improvements to a rural property can require a water quality treatment plan.
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Screen an addressSource: Headlands Environmental — environmental site screening for California. Rules summarized from publicly available county codes and planning documents; project review counts indexed from the State Clearinghouse. For authoritative requirements, consult Santa Barbara County directly.