General Plan / Coastal Land Use Plan Update

The City of Carpinteria has embarked on a journey to update the Coastal Land Use Plan/General Plan (CLUP/GP). Initiated in 2015 and delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the City renewed its effort in late 2023 to prepare an updated CLUP/GP that reflects current community priorities and complies with the California Coastal Act and State planning guidance. The project is supported by City long-range planning staff and consultants WSP Global Inc.

What is the CLUP/GP?

The City of Carpinteria Coastal Land Use Plan/General Plan (CLUP/GP) is the primary planning document for the City. Under State law, all jurisdictions must craft a General Plan and update it periodically. Because the City of Carpinteria lies entirely within the Coastal Zone, the Coastal Land Use Plan is combined with the General Plan as one document. The CLUP/GP guides development and activity toward the City’s vision of a high quality of life, small beach town character, and natural resource preservation through the identification of issue areas, objectives, policies, and implementation measures.

Past General Plan Update Committee (GPUC) meetings

The Agendas and Meetings page contains the most up-to-date information and documents related to GPUC Meetings.

The GPUC is an ad-hoc committee made up of two City Council members and two Planning Commissioners. The goal of the GPUC is to “steer” the CLUP/GP update project in the right direction from the perspective of the project’s decision makers. Meetings are generally held in-person at Carpinteria City Council Chambers and are available to watch live online.

March 18, 2024 – Agenda

April 15, 2024 – Agenda

GPUC Agendas 2020 and prior can be found on the Agendas and Meetings page.

What’s new in this update?

The updated CLUP/GP will contain two new elements— the Coastal Resiliency Element and Healthy Community Element.

The Coastal Resiliency Element will address sea level rise and its impacts, current and future, on the City. The Element is informed by the Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Project (2019) and best practices/sea level rise guidance from the State Office of Planning and Research.

The Healthy Community Element focuses on health-related topics not covered in other elements, such as nutrition/food access, active transportation, and air quality.

Related Documents:

How to Get Involved

Your participation ensures your values are reflected in the updated CLUP/GP. The General Plan Update Committee meetings are open to the public and serve as one of many opportunities for community members to comment on the project during this planning process. In addition to attending meetings to give public comment, community members are always welcome to submit public comment prior to Committee meetings through eComment on the Agendas and Meetings page, or by sending an email to the City’s public comment address: PublicComment@carpinteriaca.gov

Staff are currently developing an updated Public Outreach plan for 2024.

Email mindyf@carpinteriaca.gov with subject line “General Plan Interested Party” to be added to our interested parties email list.