The California Coastal Commission has rejected Santa Barbara County’s Notice of Final Action on the coastal section of the Santa Barbara Ranch project, citing deficiencies in the county’s document.
Santa Barbara Ranch is a 71-unit upscale residential project recently approved by the county after a decade of planning and legal wrangling. The project encompasses 3,200 acres of Gaviota land, from the Naples coastal bluffs to an inland section of Dos Pueblos Ranch. The project won 3-2 approval two weeks ago.
The commission’s deficiency notice stated that “the project descriptions for the individual actions on each component of the project, including a variety of different types of permits, coastal development permits and other discretionary approvals, did not contain adequate specificity to describe the development approved pursuant to each separate action. Without this basic project-level information, it is not possible to determine the scope of the approved development and, thus, whether specific factual findings have been included that support the legal conclusions of the notice that the development is in conformity with the certified (Local Coastal Plan).”
Adding to the complication is the county’s requirement to submit a request an amendment to the Local Coastal Plan, needed before development on the project can take place.
“It is our understanding that the county intends to submit a request for an amendment to the LCP related to this project; however, we have still not received any such submittal,” the notice said.
Santa Barbara County is expected to revise its document and resubmit it to the Coastal Commission.