The Rancho Santa Fe Art Jury Now Wants Finished Plans Before It Will Even Look At You

My first build in Rancho Santa Fe, in 2000, was technically a remodel, and I did it that way on purpose. At the time the Art Jury, which reviews every project in the Covenant, was noticeably more lenient on remodels than on new builds, and doing it as a remodel shortened both the review and the cost. That advantage does not exist anymore, and the Rancho Santa Fe Art Jury approval process today looks almost nothing like it did then.

What Changed Since My First Build Here

In 2000, the sequence was simple by comparison. You brought the Art Jury an outline of what you wanted to do. They looked at it, gave you informal feedback, and once they tentatively approved the concept, you went and produced the full working drawings.

That sequence is gone. Rancho Santa Fe now considers a major remodel the same as a new build, which means the leniency that made remodeling the faster path in 2000 no longer applies. Whichever route you take, you are now subject to the same review standard.

The New Requirement: Finished Plans Before They Will Even Look

The bigger change is procedural, and it is the one that catches people off guard. The Art Jury now requires fully finished plans, meaning complete working drawings with the engineering behind them, before it will conduct an initial review at all.

That means a minimum of six months, and sometimes a full year, working with an architect before you have anything in front of the Jury. And there is real risk built into that timeline: after you submit, the Jury can determine the project does not fit their parameters, at which point you are starting over, having already spent the money to get to that point. Under the old process, you found that out at the concept stage, before the expensive work began.

The Ranch of Santa Fe Art Jury requires fully finished plans, working drawings, before they will even look at it. Which means you need a minimum of six months, sometimes a year, with an architect just to get to that point.

Scott Union, Union West Real Estate

Why a Town-Specific Architect and Builder Matters

One lesson I have learned over the years, and the one I now pass on to every client considering a project here, is that you want to work with architects and builders who are specifically familiar with the town you are building in.

Rancho Santa Fe, Del Mar, and La Jolla are distinctly different in how they approve projects, and a team that knows one does not automatically know the others. There is effectively a fourth zone as well: San Diego County jurisdiction, covering areas like Encinitas, Cardiff, and Solana Beach, which runs its own separate process again. See the full building and remodeling guide for how this plays into the build-versus-remodel decision generally.

An architect who has been through the Rancho Santa Fe Art Jury process repeatedly knows what it wants before the first submission. An architect who has not is learning that on your project, on your timeline and your budget.

The Pandemic Staffing Gap That Never Fully Closed

Part of why every one of these approval processes runs slower now traces back to the pandemic. Approval agencies across the region laid off staff during that period, and once demand for building and remodeling came roaring back as people adapted and started moving and buying again, those agencies were caught understaffed.

Many of them still have not fully caught up with that demand. That is not specific to Rancho Santa Fe. It is a regional condition affecting La Jolla, Del Mar, Encinitas, and the surrounding jurisdictions, and it is a large part of why timelines that used to feel predictable no longer do.

When Your Reviewer Has Never Seen Your Town

Understaffing has produced a second problem on top of the first: some cities are now contracting certain reviews out to third parties who are not familiar with local conditions at all.

In Encinitas specifically, some engineering review has gone to contractors based in Orange County, evaluating projects with no prior knowledge of the local infrastructure or the norms that have developed here over decades. They review the project the way they would anywhere else, which is frequently not the way it needs to be reviewed here. That produces a cycle where you are educating the reviewer on local context, they push back from an outside frame of reference, and a large share of the time that back and forth resolves in the applicant’s favor only after real delay.

This is not unique to Encinitas, and it is worth asking directly, before you retain an architect, whether the jurisdiction you are building in uses outside reviewers on any part of the process.

How to Navigate the Process With Fewer Surprises

None of this means these towns are impossible to build in. It means the sequence you follow, and who you follow it with, matters more than it used to.

Choose an architect and a builder with recent, direct experience in the specific jurisdiction, not just the general region. Ask them plainly how many projects they have taken through that jurisdiction’s process in the last two to three years. Build the six-to-twelve-month working drawing runway into your own planning from the outset, rather than treating it as a delay when it happens. And where a jurisdiction is known to use third-party or out-of-area reviewers, budget extra time for the education cycle that tends to follow.

If you are considering a project in Rancho Santa Fe, La Jolla, Del Mar, or the surrounding San Diego County jurisdictions and want a realistic read on the approval timeline before you commit to an architect, reach out and I will walk you through what to expect.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Rancho Santa Fe Art Jury?

It is the review body for building and remodeling projects within the Rancho Santa Fe Covenant. It evaluates proposed construction against the community’s architectural and design standards before a project can proceed.

Does the Art Jury treat remodels differently from new construction?

Not anymore. In the past a major remodel received more lenient review than new construction, which made remodeling the faster path. Today the Art Jury generally treats a major remodel the same as a new build.

What does the Art Jury require before it will review a project?

Fully finished working drawings, including the underlying engineering, rather than a conceptual outline. Producing that level of detail with an architect typically takes six months to a year before the project is even submitted for initial review.

What happens if the Art Jury rejects a project after full working drawings are submitted?

The applicant may need to revise and resubmit, having already incurred the cost of producing complete working drawings and engineering. This is a meaningfully higher-stakes outcome than under the prior process, where informal feedback happened earlier and at lower cost.

Why does it matter whether an architect has local experience in a specific town?

Rancho Santa Fe, Del Mar, and La Jolla each run distinctly different approval processes, and jurisdictions like Encinitas, Cardiff, and Solana Beach fall under a separate San Diego County process again. An architect experienced in one town’s process does not automatically know what another town’s reviewers expect.

Why are approval timelines slower across the region right now?

Many approval agencies reduced staffing during the pandemic and have not fully caught up with the rebound in building and remodeling demand that followed. This has extended review timelines broadly across Rancho Santa Fe, La Jolla, Del Mar, and Encinitas.

What is happening with third-party permitting reviewers in Encinitas?

Due to staffing shortages, some engineering review has been contracted out to reviewers based outside the area, in some cases Orange County, who are not familiar with local conditions or norms. This can add friction and delay as applicants work to establish local context that a resident reviewer would already understand.

How should a buyer or owner plan around these approval timelines?

Choose design and building professionals with recent, direct experience in the specific jurisdiction, build the realistic working-drawing timeline into project planning from the start, and ask early whether the jurisdiction uses third-party or out-of-area reviewers on any part of the process.

The Timeline Is Part of the Deal Now

Buyers and owners who plan a project here without accounting for this process are almost always the ones who end up frustrated by it. The towns have not become harder to build in out of nowhere. The process changed, and the people who plan around it, rather than being surprised by it, are the ones who get through it with the fewest headaches.

If you are weighing a build or remodel in Rancho Santa Fe, La Jolla, Del Mar, or the surrounding San Diego County jurisdictions, start a conversation with Scott Union.