Starting Monday, residents of Santa Barbara will no longer have to drop off paper plan sets or application fees in person at the Community Development or Public Works counters.
The Land Development Team launched an online permitting system that accepts the submission of most Building, Planning and Public Works applications and permits.
Santa Barbara’s new Accela Citizen Access Portal launched in spring of this year, and it allows applicants to track the progress of their project applications and city activities from start to finish.
This will reduce the time needed for the review of plans and permits and simplify the building permit application choices.
The online citizen portal is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week to submit plans or pay fees.
Through an On-Demand permitting process, applicants will be able to apply, pay and instantly receive their building permit online without a staff contact, starting with “Like-for-Like” roofing replacements and eventually moving to water heater and furnace replacements and new small residential solar photovoltaic systems.
Training materials on navigating the online system are available online now, and a On-Demand permitting system training session is planned for later this fall.
Those attending will learn an overview of the ACA permitting system, how to submit applications, upload documents and plans, make payments and track the project’s status.
For building permit services, visit https://www.santabarbaraca.gov/gov/depts/cd/building/acabuildingpermits.asp.
For public works, visit https://www.santabarbaraca.gov/gov/depts/pw/engineering/permits/default.asp.
For planning applications, visit https://www.santabarbaraca.gov/services/planning/planningesubmittals.asp.
— Grayce McCormick
