Why can the urban-rural limit line stop urban sprawl?
The urban limit line is a County planing boundary along the northern edge of Goleta extending from the City of Santa Barbara at San Marcos Pass to Winchester Canyon, crossing the freeway and extending westward to encompass the new Bacara Resort. Zoning to the west and north of the limit line is generally agricultural, large lot parcels. The sanctity of this planning tool is only as secure as is the will of the sitting Board of Supervisors to maintain it. A Board with a philosophy more oriented toward allowing urban growth to expand along the coast could change the urban boundary by a simple majority vote. Allowing development to the west of the urban-rural limit line could create the classic conditions of urban sprawl; infrastructure development, followed by pocket development and the subsequent urban infill.
