Cristopher Lapp | Santa Barbara County Land Use & Real Estate Advisor

Cristopher Lapp has spent more than three decades in California real estate — as a licensed broker, mortgage loan originator, land strategist, and capital advisor — and has spent the last several years serving on the public boards and committees that decide how land in Santa Barbara County actually gets used. Few advisors in the region can say they've sat on both sides of the table: representing private landowners and developers, and sitting on the county bodies that review projects like theirs.

That dual vantage point is the core of what Black Oak Land and Capital offers clients: a realistic, insider's read on zoning, entitlements, architectural review, and public-hearing risk — before a client commits real money or time to a project.

Public Service & Civic Experience

Cristopher currently holds three appointed public roles in Santa Barbara County government, plus a teaching appointment at UC Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) — Measure A Citizens Oversight Committee
The committee provides independent public oversight of Santa Barbara County's voter-approved Measure A transportation program, including review of program audits, implementation, and compliance with the Measure A Investment Plan.
SBCAG — Measure A Citizens Oversight Committee

Santa Barbara County — Central Board of Architectural Review (CBAR)
Third District Member.

CBAR reviews the design, siting, and architectural character of development projects across the county's central region — the same review body many Black Oak clients' projects pass through.
County of Santa Barbara — Central Board of Architectural Review · Board roster and current term

Santa Barbara County — Assessment Appeals Board (AAB)
Appointed 2026 to Assessment Appeals Board No. 2, Third District seat, on the nomination of Third District Supervisor Joan Hartmann. The board hears and rules on property valuation and tax-assessment disputes.
County of Santa Barbara — Assessment Appeals Board · Appointment record, Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors

UC Santa Barbara — Professional & Continuing Education (PaCE)
Instructor, since October 2024, teaching leadership, marketing, and the practical application of AI in business.
UCSB Professional & Continuing Education

Prior civic role — City of Solvang Design Review Committee and UBC Committee
Committee Member, January 2023–January 2025. The committee reviews the design and site planning of development proposals within Solvang city limits.
City of Solvang — Design Review Committee agendas & minutes

Real Estate & Land Expertise

Cristopher has held a California real estate license continuously since 1990 and a broker license since 1995 — 30-plus years of licensed practice in the state. (California DRE Public License Lookup, License #01093529)

His background spans real estate brokerage, land acquisition, development strategy, mortgage and capital markets, and property tax analytics. He is the founder and former CEO of APT, Inc., a property-tax analytics firm he built and later led through acquisition by a major banking institution — direct, operator-level experience in property valuation and tax assessment that now informs his seat on the county's Assessment Appeals Board.

Combined with his current appointments to the Central Board of Architectural Review, the Measure A Citizens Oversight Committee, and his prior service on Solvang's Design Review Committee, that background gives Cristopher a working knowledge of how zoning, land-use designations, permitting requirements, architectural review, public hearings, infrastructure planning, and government process actually shape a property's potential — not just its listing price.

A Practical Perspective on Property & Development

Cristopher's work for clients typically starts with the questions that matter before they commit meaningful time or capital:

• What is realistically possible on this parcel?

• What approvals will it require, and from which bodies?

• Where are the regulatory and entitlement risks?

• What could move the property's value up or down?

• What is the most practical path forward?

Three decades in real estate and capital markets, paired with a current seat on the county boards that review these very projects, gives Black Oak clients a grounded read on land value, entitlement risk, and what it actually takes to get a project through Santa Barbara County's public process.

Cristopher R. Lapp
Founder & Managing Broker, Black Oak Land and Capital

Office (Santa Barbara County): 805-538-6044 · Cell: 310-612-0040
cris@blackoaklc.com · blackoaklc.com

California DRE Broker License #01093529 | NMLS #337660