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Pre-Symposium Abstract of Paper

Balancing Oak Protection with Farming Flexibility: Lessons from Santa Barbara County

Abe Leider, County of Santa Barbara Planning and Development, 123 E. Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101, (805) 568-3508, aleider@co.santa-barbara.ca.us

Outside of the coastal zone, where strict oak protection rules apply, the County of Santa Barbara has no regulations specifically written to address the removal of native oak trees in rural areas. On February 10, 1998, in response to the accelerated clearing of native oak trees on the county’s agricultural lands, the County’s Board of Supervisors initiated a collaborative public process to develop recommendations for oak protection.

The County invited over 400 people to participate in the Oak Protection Collaborative Process, including grape growers, vintners, farmers, ranchers, scientists, and other interested parties. In 16 public meetings over 14 months, a balanced group of approximately 25 participants and other occasional participants came close to agreeing on recommendations to address large-scale oak removal. However, the group was ultimately unable to unanimously approve final recommendations.

After another series of public workshops to collect further public input, the Board of Supervisors directed staff to draft regulations based on the entire public process to date, particularly the almost-finalized work of the Collaborative Process. Further work on the regulations was guided by Comprehensive Plan policies that require the County to encourage the continued success of agriculture while simultaneously protecting natural resources.

The primary objectives of the resulting Oak Protection Program are:

to avoid or prevent large-scale removal of native oak trees without permits and/or environmental review where necessary
to institute a County goal of retention, and where feasible, increase of oaks and oak habitat (particularly the more threatened valley oaks) over time
to regulate removal in a manner consistent with the County’s goal of supporting and encouraging agriculture.

The proposed program is made up of oak protection policies and an oak protection ordinance. In addition to general oak protection language and development standards, the policies call for financial incentives, education, and other positive means to encourage landowners to protect and enhance their oak resources. The ordinance is based on a "three-tiered" system conceived in the Oak Protection Collaborative Process (and not altogether dissimilar to the structure of Ventura County’s tree protection ordinance). Under the three-tiered structure, a certain number of oak trees could be removed without permits (Tier 1), a certain level above that could be removed with a ministerial permit (Tier 2), and removals greater than those specified for those tiers would require a discretionary permit (Tier 3). The specific numbers of oaks that could be removed under each tier would depend on the species of oak and the size of the parcel.

In July 2001, after five public hearings, the County Planning Commission voted to recommend the proposed program to the Board of Supervisors. Hearings before the Board of Supervisors are expected to begin in January 2002.

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