The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors — the county’s top elected governing body — took up a mix of homeless-services, mental-health, and land-use items during the week of July 7, 2026. The most consequential decisions dealt with how the county houses and treats its most vulnerable residents, while two rezoning projects were teed up for future hearings that could reshape specific neighborhoods.
Homeless and mental-health services
The board’s headline housing-related action was approving a Good Samaritan Site and Services Agreement, a contract with the nonprofit Good Samaritan Shelter that allows the County Health Department to provide services at a shelter site. For residents, this means the county is locking in a formal, funded arrangement to keep beds and on-site health support available for people experiencing homelessness — rather than relying on shorter-term or informal patchwork funding. Good Samaritan is one of the county’s largest shelter and recovery providers, so continuity in this agreement matters for the stability of the region’s overall homeless-services network.
Supervisors also advanced the North County Crisis Residential Treatment Facilities Project by awarding a Professional Services Agreement (PSA) — a contract to hire an outside firm — for construction management. A crisis residential treatment facility is a short-term home-like setting where people in a mental-health crisis can stay and get care instead of ending up in a hospital emergency room or jail. For North County residents, this is an early construction step toward more local beds for people who need intensive mental-health support but not a locked hospital. Awarding construction management services signals the project is moving from planning into the building phase.
In a related public-safety item, the board approved an Award Agreement for Design Build Services on the North Branch Jail Expansion Project. Design-build combines the design and construction of a project under a single contract, which can speed up delivery. The jail expansion required a four-fifths supermajority vote of the five supervisors. While not a housing project in the traditional sense, jail capacity is closely tied to the county’s broader debate over how to house and treat people cycling between incarceration, homelessness, and mental-health crises.
Zoning and rezoning
Two rezoning items drew attention, though neither received a final vote this week.
The board held a hearing on the Rose Comprehensive Plan Amendment and Zoning Map Amendment in the Second District. A comprehensive plan amendment changes the county’s long-range land-use blueprint, and a zoning map amendment changes the rules governing what can be built on a specific property. Taken together, these two changes can open the door to new development — or a different type of development — on the affected land. For nearby residents, an amendment like this is worth watching because it can permanently change what a neighboring parcel is allowed to become.
Supervisors also scheduled a hearing for August 18, 2026 on the Hagfors Rezone Project in the Third District, setting aside about 30 minutes. Setting a hearing simply puts the item on a future agenda; no decision was made this week. Residents who want to weigh in on how the Hagfors property is rezoned will have their chance next month.
An ADU appeal and a parcel dispute
The board heard an appeal in the First District involving the Sandoval Quiel Revocable Living Trust Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) — a smaller secondary home on the same lot, such as a backyard cottage or converted garage. The applicant appealed the planning director’s determination that their application was incomplete, meaning county staff said the paperwork wasn’t ready to be formally reviewed. For homeowners across the county, appeals like this matter because they test how strictly the county enforces its ADU application requirements — and how much leeway property owners get when staff and applicants disagree over whether a project is ready to move forward.
Appointments and routine business
In other action this cycle, the board appointed Tony Guy to the county Planning Commission for a term ending January 7, 2027, representing the Fourth District. The Planning Commission reviews development proposals and makes recommendations to the supervisors, so who sits on it can influence how future housing and land-use projects are treated. Supervisors also received the County Executive Officer’s Report — a routine update on county programs, staffing, and state and federal legislation — held a closed-session conference with labor negotiators over several public-safety employee unions, and adopted a resolution honoring the Friendship Adult Day Care Center’s 50th anniversary (1976–2026).
The board continues to offer both in-person and remote participation at its meetings in the County Administration Building’s Board Hearing Room, so residents can comment on housing items without traveling downtown.
What’s coming up
The most significant date for residents to mark is August 18, 2026, when the board is scheduled to consider the Hagfors Rezone Project in the Third District. Anyone interested in how that property will be zoned — or in the broader Rose plan amendment still working through the process — should plan to follow the county’s upcoming agendas and consider offering public input at the hearing.