Santa Barbara New Zoning Ordinance

Dyett & Bhatia led a comprehensive update of the City of Santa Barbara’s Zoning Ordinance. The project implements the goals set forth in the City’s General Plan; makes the ordinance more user-friendly by reorganizing provisions, adding tables and graphics, and modernizing definitions; and streamlines the development review process. In addition, D&B worked with City staff and a Joint Technical Committee to update some of the existing use and development regulations to maintain neighborhood character and reflect the way that property in the City is actually used, including provisions for parking. Methods for reducing the number of nonconforming structures that were created through previous amendments to the Zoning Ordinance were also reviewed as part of the New Zoning Ordinance effort.

Community workshops were held at key stages during the planning process to help guide the manner in which project information is distributed and gather input from the community. Other types of outreach for the project included review and incorporation of information from stakeholder meeting notes, press releases, and updates for the community on the City’s website.