The Practice
Senate Bill 9.
Parcel by parcel.
Eligibility
The law is statewide. The answer is parcel-specific.
Fire hazard severity zones, historic districts, debris flow geography, lot configuration, and local ordinance overlays determine what any given parcel can do. Santa Barbara city and county ordinances each layer affordability and siting requirements onto state law.
Most owners cannot determine eligibility from public tools, and most advisors have never executed a split. The practice exists to close that gap.
Two-Unit Development
Two primary homes on one parcel, by right, with no lot split. No owner-occupancy requirement under state law. The instrument a developer can use. A fast track to building. Ministerial approval. No discretionary hearings. No CEQA review.
Urban Lot Split
Two legal parcels where there was one, each independently owned and sellable. The applicant signs an affidavit of intent to occupy for three years. The instrument built for owners.
What the Practice Provides
Five engagements. One standard of counsel.
SB 9 Eligibility Assessment
What your property qualifies for under state law and local ordinance, determined parcel by parcel, in writing.
Lot Split and Development Strategy
The realistic path, sequence, timeline, and economics of a split or development, established before you commit capital.
Broker Opinions of Value
What your property is worth as it stands, and what it could be worth split or developed. A broker opinion of value is not an appraisal. It is a market view from a practitioner.
Ongoing Portfolio Advisory
A standing advisory relationship for every question across your portfolio, so you call before you act.
Disposition and Transaction Representation
When the right answer is to sell, the firm represents the sale, of one parcel or of several, in sequence.
The Engagement
Advisory first. Transactions last.
A complete application starts a sixty-day clock. The city must approve or deny, or the application is deemed approved.
Feasibility.
Every engagement opens with the SB 9 Portfolio Assessment. Eligibility under state law and local ordinance, an initial opinion of value, and a written strategy memorandum.
The Team.
The architect and the people around them. A bench that already knows the objective standards in each jurisdiction.
The Submissions.
Complete applications, assembled and filed. Completeness is the craft. It is what starts the clock.
The Entitlement.
Ministerial review through to approval. The parcel map records. The engagement ends with the entitlement in hand.
Transactions.
Parcels come to market through the firm, sequentially, as the owner's strategy unfolds.
Every engagement begins with the SB 9 Portfolio Assessment.
Request the assessment