The Comprehensive Plan

Under California law, each City and County must adopt a Comprehensive Plan (General Plan) to document its goals and policies for future development of the community. A General Plan must include the following mandatory elements: Land Use, Circulation, Housing, Open Space, Conservation, Noise, and Safety. Santa Barbara's also addresses Agriculture, Environmental Resource Management, Energy Conservation, Scenic Roadways, Seismic Safety and Hazardous Waste. Counties and Cities which contain land within the coastal zone, as Santa Barbara County does, must also prepare a Local Coastal Program. Santa Barbara County also has community plans for Montecito, Summerland, Goleta, and Los Alamos. Orcutt and Santa Ynez are pending. Each element contains goals and policies pertaining to its subject. Under State law, your project cannot be approved, and your application will be recommended for denial if it is inconsistent with any policy of the Comprehensive Plan.

Twelve mandatory and optional elements:

(Elements identified in California general plan law and key implementing guidelines - listed below in alphabetical order) 1. Agricultural Element Guides county government in addressing the future use of agricultural lands and resources. It includes goals and policies applicable to projects that affect agricultural resources. Implementing Document: Agricultural Preserve Uniform Rules 2. Circulation Element Identifies key roadway links throughout the unincorporated areas of the County, and along with the other elements of the Comprehensive Plan, guides decisions regarding new development. The objective of this Element is to provide clear traffic capacity guidelines that are intended to maintain acceptable levels of service on the County’s roadways and intersections, while allowing reasonable growth within the communities of the unincorporated area. (The county-wide Circulation Element applies to all unincorporated areas located outside of community plans.) Circulation Element standards must be reviewed for all projects that add trips to roadways or intersections projected to operate in excess of acceptable capacity with approved project volumes. Implementing Documents: Highway 101 Design Guidelines, Bicycle Master Plan 3. Conservation Element Describes the County's natural and cultural resources in studies of water resources, ecological systems, mineral resources, agricultural resources, historic and archaeological sites, and provides recommendations for the protection of these resources. Groundwater Resources Section adopted in 1994 updates the water resources section of the Conservation Element. 4. Energy Element Provides a policy framework to encourage energy efficiency. Policies primarily encourage construction of energy efficient buildings through incentive based programs. It does not include requirements applicable to individual development projects. 5. Environmental Resource Management Element Summarizes the various environmental factors analyzed in the Seismic Safety and Safety, Conservation, and Open Space Elements, and identifies policies which define whether development is appropriate given the severity of constraints. 6. Hazardous Waste Element Provides a comprehensive plan for the management of hazardous waste in the County. It includes goals, policies and siting criteria that must be evaluated for proposed hazardous waste facilities. 7. Housing Element Provides an overview of housing resources and demands within each of the County's five housing market areas, assesses the resources and infrastructure necessary to serve the new housing, and provides a series of policies and programs which will ensure that the housing needs of all economic segments of society are addressed while protecting the County's resources and ensuring that growth is consistent with overall goals and policies of the Comprehensive Plan. Implementing Document: Housing Element Implementation Guidelines (Guidelines detail the County’s various housing programs which are applicable to all residential development of more than four lots or units.) 8. Land Use Element  The purpose of the Land Use Element (LUE) is to interrelate all the different factors that affect population growth, urban development and open land preservation and to represent the county’s policy on land use. The LUE includes many policies critical to the analysis of development projects. Air Quality Supplement: Identifies land use measures to aid in air quality planning efforts. Community Plans: Intended to address the special concerns and needs of the community and to preserve the unique character of each. The Community Plans include adopted land use maps, goals, objectives, policies and development standards to guide development, and a Circulation Element component. Community Plans have been adopted for these communities and regions. 9. Noise Element Includes noise contour maps showing noise associated with roads, highways, railroad operations and airports and includes policies to address existing noise sources and minimize conflicts for new land uses. 10. Open Space Element  Identifies factors related to public health and safety, managed production of resources, outdoor recreation and preservation of natural resources. The factors have been mapped to identify lands that should be considered for open space preservation. This element does not include any policies or recommendations. Implementing document: Burton Mesa Management Plan 11. Scenic Highways Element Presents the County’s scenic highway goals, evaluation standards, preservation measures and procedures for obtaining official "Scenic Highway" designation for state and county roads. 12. Seismic Safety and Safety Element Intended to guide land use planning by providing data regarding geologic, soil and seismic hazards.  This element includes some recommendations to guide land use. Safety Element Supplement: Describes land use planning measures to reduce the risk of public exposure to acutely hazardous materials.

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