The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors met on May 12 with a packed housing agenda, advancing a new local-preference housing ordinance, lining up several million dollars in state and federal funding for homelessness and behavioral health services, and previewing a broader rewrite of how the county handles routine permits. The meeting covered 15 housing-related items affecting the First, Second, and Third Supervisorial Districts — areas that include parts of Santa Barbara, Montecito, Goleta Valley, the Santa Ynez Valley, and Cuyama.
A new local-preference rule for new housing
The most consequential item was the introduction of Chapter 52 of the County Code — the Local Housing Marketing Program (Case No. 26ORD-00003). The ordinance, which affects portions of the First, Second, and Third Districts, would require that certain new housing developments market their units first to people who already live or work in Santa Barbara County before opening the listings to the broader public.
For residents, this is significant: in a county where the median home price routinely tops $1.5 million and where workers regularly commute in from Ventura County or further, a local-preference marketing window gives current residents — including renters trying to buy their first home and workers in lower-paying service jobs — a head start on new inventory. The program does not cap prices or guarantee a unit, but it does mean local applicants will see listings, tour units, and submit applications before out-of-area buyers and investors. Similar programs in other California coastal cities have been credited with modestly improving local access to new below-market units, though they cannot by themselves solve affordability. The ordinance now moves toward a second reading — the formal final vote that follows the introductory vote — before it takes effect.
Homelessness funding: three programs, one push
The board took up three separate items aimed at people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, signaling a coordinated push to draw down outside money rather than rely on the county general fund.
First, supervisors considered a Program Funding Agreement with Advocates for Human Potential (AHP), Inc. — a consulting firm that administers state behavioral health grants — under the California Department of Health Care Services’ Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program (BHCIP) Round 2. BHCIP is a multi-billion-dollar statewide bond program that pays to build or expand treatment beds, crisis facilities, and supportive housing for people with serious mental illness or substance use disorders. For residents, the practical effect is more local treatment capacity — meaning fewer people cycling between the street, the emergency room, and the jail because there is nowhere appropriate to send them.
Second, the board authorized the Community Services Director to submit an Encampment Resolution Funding (ERF) application to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (State HCD — the state’s main housing agency). ERF grants pay for outreach, interim shelter, and permanent housing placements aimed at clearing specific encampments and moving the people in them indoors. If awarded, the money would fund on-the-ground work at identified encampment sites in the county — a direct, visible response to one of residents’ most common complaints.
Third, supervisors approved sub-recipient agreements under the Housing and Disability Advocacy Program (HDAP) — a state program that pairs outreach workers with disabled homeless residents to help them apply for federal disability benefits and find housing at the same time. HDAP is one of the more effective state tools for getting chronically homeless people stably housed, because federal disability income gives them a reliable rent source once they qualify.
Taken together, these three items represent the county’s standard practice of bundling state homelessness dollars rather than relying on any single source. None individually transforms the system, but together they keep outreach teams, shelter beds, and housing placements funded for the coming year.
A preview of major permitting changes
The board also held a 45-minute hearing on a Zoning Ordinance Ministerial Streamlining Briefing from the Planning and Development Department. “Ministerial” review means a project that meets all the written rules gets approved at the staff counter — no hearing, no discretionary judgment, no neighbors weighing in. The opposite, “discretionary” review, sends projects to the Planning Commission or Board of Supervisors, where they can be approved, denied, or conditioned.
State law over the past several years — particularly bills covering Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs — smaller secondary homes on the same lot, like backyard cottages or garage conversions), small-lot subdivisions, and certain affordable projects — has forced cities and counties to convert many reviews from discretionary to ministerial. The briefing previewed how Santa Barbara County intends to update its zoning code to match. For homeowners, the practical effect could be substantial: projects like ADUs, duplex conversions, and qualifying small infill developments would move faster and with more predictability, though with less opportunity for neighbors to object. No vote was taken; the item was received and filed, meaning a future ordinance will come back for action.
A new subdivision in the Santa Ynez Valley
Supervisors approved the Final Map of Tract No. 14,786 — Zaca Preserve LLC (Case 12TRM-00000-00001) in the Third District, accepting public utility easements and setting the monument deposit (a refundable deposit that ensures survey markers are properly placed). Approving a final map is the last formal step before lots can be sold and built on individually. The Zaca Preserve project has been working through the county process since 2012, and this action clears the way for individual home construction to begin.
Planning appointments and procedural items
The board approved two First District planning appointments that will shape land-use decisions over the coming year: Steven Amerikaner to the County Planning Commission, and Dante Di Loreto to the Montecito Planning Commission. Both terms run through December 31, 2026. Planning commissioners vote on subdivisions, conditional use permits, and zoning changes, so these appointments matter for any project moving through the pipeline.
In routine business, supervisors authorized the County Treasurer to make temporary inter-fund transfers between July 2026 and April 2027 to cover cash-flow gaps — a standard accounting tool that does not change overall spending. They accepted a $118,920 donation from the Santa Barbara County Animal Care Foundation to Animal Services (not housing-related, but on the same agenda). The board also met in closed session on one anticipated litigation matter and held its standard public comment period.
What’s coming up
The board set a hearing for June 9, 2026 on an ordinance updating the Public Works Department’s subdivision map and document review fees charged by the Surveyor Division. These are the fees developers and homeowners pay when they split a lot or record a map — small in any one case, but a recurring cost that ultimately gets passed into home prices. The Local Housing Marketing Program ordinance will also return for its second reading before taking effect, and the ministerial streamlining package previewed this week will come back as draft code language later in the year. Residents who want to weigh in on either should watch the county’s agenda postings in the coming weeks.