Santa Barbara New Zoning Ordinance

In partnership with Dyett & Bhatia, Urban and Regional Planners, Martha Miller is leading a comprehensive update of the City of Santa Barbara’s Zoning Ordinance. The Santa Barbara New Zoning Ordinance (NZO) effort was initiated to update Santa Barbara’s regulation of land use and development included in the Zoning Ordinance, bringing it up to date to reflect best practices and make the ordinance easier to use and understand by all users. Specific objectives of the project is to craft a new Zoning Ordinance that:

• Is consistent with and implements the General Plan;
• Is modern and reflects the City’s current uses, practices, and development patterns;
• Provides clear decision-making protocols and streamlined review processes, where appropriate;
• Addresses previously created nonconforming situations and brings them into compliance to the extent feasible;
• Promotes adaptive reuse of properties; and
• Is clear, concise, understandable, and easy to use