Santa Barbara, CA

This is the foundational entitlement framework that will govern where and how utility-scale solar can be permitted throughout Santa Barbara County — developers eyeing agricultural, rural, or coastal parcels for solar need to study these new standards immediately, as they define the playing field for all future project applications.

Santa Barbara County is adopting sweeping code amendments across the LUDC, Coastal Zoning Ordinance, Montecito LUDC, Comprehensive Plan Land Use Element, and Coastal Land Use Plan — plus Uniform Rules for Agricultural Preserves — to establish a new regulatory framework for utility-scale solar projects county-wide, backed by a certified Program EIR.