Overview
As a local government, the County of Santa Cruz protects natural resources through its land use policies, ordinances and enforcement. You can learn about the natural resources of Santa Cruz County here.
Santa Cruz County’s General Plan and County Code provide for protection of the environment. Development and building applications are reviewed by County staff to ensure that projects meet the goals of the General Plan and County Code. The majority of the General Plan Policies can be found in Sections 5 and 6 of the General Plan. The majority of the County’s environmental and resource protection codes are found in Chapter 16. If you have questions about any of the Environmental Policies or Code please contact us.
If you are just getting started designing your project, please see our Pre-Application Services
Compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
Compliance with CEQA is an important aspect of the project review process. CEQA requires that projects be analyzed to determine whether any significant environmental impacts could result. The analysis necessary to make such a determination comes from the reports required as determined by site conditions. If significant impacts are identified in a report, mitigation measures are developed which will reduce or avoid those impacts. In some instances, CEQA requires that an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) be prepared to analyze impacts and identify mitigations. Visit our CEQA page for more information and links to projects.