It’s not quite the Hatfields and the McCoys, but the land use skirmish taking place in Santa Barbara County has grown large enough to attract the attention of county officials.
Some local homeowners are claiming their neighbors are temporarily leasing out their private property for profit without obtaining county permits. Until recently, the size and frequency of events being held on private land went without notice, but more and more complaints are being lodged.
The wording of the county land-use ordinance, which some people are calling a “loophole,” seems to allow landowners to lease out their land to be used temporarily for weddings and other special temporary events without obtaining a permit from the county. The issue has become pronounced enough that the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission held work group discussions in September to talk about what needs to be done about it.
As a result of the workshops, there’s been talk of developing a special event application. The commission is now faced with defining what constitutes a one-time event, and deciding an attendance threshold for permit exemption. The tentative number brought up during the hearing was 25.
The Planning Commission has received several letters from the community demanding county regulation.
In their letter to the commission, Santa Barbara County residents J. Robert Andrews and Margaret Wilkinson said the provision “does not even deserve to be dignified as a ‘loophole.’ It is a violation plain and simple and should be interpreted and enforced as such.”
The letter goes on to say, “If enforced, regulations already on the books should be sufficient to regulate this growing abuse.”
Currently, county code states that events occurring on private property are subject to a Minor Conditional Use Permit.
What county officials are struggling with is not a lack of existing codes, but a lack of clear wording that would convince temporary lessees that they fall under these codes.
“It’s my opinion that the activity that’s been going on for the most part has been without incident. Currently there [are] noise ordinances that are in place, there’s … parking and other ordinances,” Richard Good, owner of Classic Party Rentals, told the commission.
The county operates on a complaint basis. Code compliance officials don’t patrol private property looking for land-use violations. Until a complaint is filed, there’s no practical way for the county to enforce the existing regulations. And even if the county ends up clarifying the language in the code, it would still be difficult to enforce compliance.
The commission also discussed the longevity of temporary land- use permits. The concern is that once a landowner obtains a permit, he or she will have the permanent ability to hold any number of events.
Bob Fields, a concerned county resident, took the podium at an Oct. 12 Planning Commission meeting to suggest the county draft a “sunset provision” that requires permits to be reviewed before they can be renewed.
Some party planning vendors have asked why the county isn’t doing an economic impact study on how a new regulatory ordinance would impact residential landowners.
County planner Noel Langle told the Sun a study isn’t part of the ordinance amendment process. The commission is simply trying to clarify the existing regulations that have been in place since 2004, he said.
Parallel with the private property issue are winery challenges in San Luis and Santa Barbara counties. Classic Party Rentals owner Good pointed out that some concern over the size and frequency of the events that wineries would be hosting has been tangled in the private property issue.
“There have only been a handful of examples where we have properties that are hosting an inordinate number of events and freaking out their neighbors,” Good said. “What’s getting enmeshed in this issue is the winery challenges that are also coming up. … You have neighbors of wineries that are concerned about the number of events that wineries are doing, transposing and confusing the issue with what’s going on at private estates.”
This article appears in Oct 20-27, 2011.