General Plan/Coastal Land Use Plan

The General Plan/Coastal Land Use Plan is undergoing a comprehensive update. Click here for more information.

The Housing Element has also been updated for the 2023-2031 RHNA cycle and more information can be found here.

The Carpinteria General Plan and Coastal Land Use Plan, referred to as the General Plan, is the primary planning policy document for the city. It represents the community’s collective vision for preserving and improving the quality of life in the Carpinteria Valley.

Carpinterians have a strong sense of identity with a rich and colorful history. The fertile soils of the Carpinteria Valley and its safe and scenic coastline have provided ideal living conditions for thousands of years. The relative isolation of Carpinteria has enabled it to remain one of the last small, rural southern California coastal communities. It is the community’s desire to maintain its small beach-town lifestyle while accommodating an appropriate balance of
economic vibrancy.

The goal of the community is:
…to preserve the essential character of our small beach town, its family-oriented residential neighborhoods, its unique visual and natural resources and its open, rural surroundings while enhancing recreational, cultural and economic opportunities for our citizens.

General Plan / Coastal Land Use Plan

General Plan / Coastal Land Use Plan

The City’s General Plan / Coastal Land Use Plan was last updated in 2003. As required by State Planning and Zoning law, the plan contains the following elements: Land Use, Circulation, Housing, Noise, Safety, and Open Space, Recreation, and Conservation. Additionally, the plan contains optional elements, including the Community Design element and the Public Facilities and Services Element. The plan serves as the City’s Coastal Land Use Plan.

Annual Progress Report

Each year the city prepares a report on the status of the General Plan. The preparation of this report provides an opportunity to review activities and projects of the prior year that work toward implementing the City’s General Plan.  This annual report is presented to the City Council and subsequently submitted to the State Office of Planning and Research and the Department of Housing and Community Development. A separate annual report, detailing the City’s progress toward implementing the Housing Element, is also presented to the City Council and submitted to the Department of Housing and Community Development.

Adopted Amendments

Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP)

The LHMP for the City of Carpinteria was developed in accordance with the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 and followed FEMA’s 2011 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan guidance. The LHMP incorporates a process where hazards are identified and profiled, the people and facilities at risk are analyzed, and mitigation actions are developed to reduce or eliminate hazard risk. The implementation of these mitigation actions, which include both short-term and long-term strategies, involve planning, policy changes, programs, projects, and other activities.

On April 10, 2023, the Carpinteria City Council adopted the City’s 2022 LHMP and incorporated it by reference into the City’s Safety Element. The City is currently working on an additional amendment to the Safety Element to fully include the 2022 LHMP in accordance with Assembly Bill 2140.

Other General Plan amendments:

Ellinwood Annexation and Wetland Overlay (2009)

Transportation Corridor Wetland Overlay and Whitney Parcel Overlay (2015)

Consistency Rezone (2016)