The Creek Buffer Ordinance leaves room for interpretation when it comes to determining the starting point and even the existence of a buffer zone around creeks in the city.
For one, "minor" creeks are ill defined and even the City acknowledges that their creek map may not be accurate when it comes to this type of creeks. On the other hand, it is not always obvious where the top of a creek's bank is located and the guidelines presented by the City on February 19, 2025 are fairly subjective. All this ambiguity, needless to say, opens the door to unpleasant susprises down the line.
As a reminder, the ordinance outlines three types of creeks: major creeks, flood control project creeks, and minor creeks, with buffers from the top of the bank of 50, 35, and 15 feet, respectively.
On February 19, 2025, the City indicated that approximately 2,300 properties would be impacted, but didn't specify exactly how many. That's roughly 8% of all parcels in the City. According to our independent analysis, between 1,700 and 2,800 properties could be impacted by the ordinance. Of course, the degree to which each property is impacted varies dramatically. Some properties are severely impacted, many are partially covered by buffers, and some are impacted to a lesser degree.
If you're unsure whether your property is impacted, the first thing you should review is the ordinance's creek map. The service that hosts this map (ArcGIS) allows you to make measurements and to toggle between terrain and satellite views. Remember that the buffers are measured from the top of the bank, which the "Terrain with Labels" and "Imagery" basemaps may help locate, approximately. Given that "top of the bank" is not well defined, in many cases you won't be able to pinpoint it exactly and will need to make assumptions. If you need help using the tool, don't hesitate to reach out at info@sbcreekneighbors.org and we will do our best to assist.
If you can, you should make measurements on the ground. There's nothing like seeing with your own eyes how much of your property would be impacted by the ordinance.
For your convenience, below you can also find a quick and approximate estimate of the impact to your property based on our independent analysis. Please read the disclaimer carefully.