Cities | Burbank

Burbank, California Multiplex Rules 2026: Zoning, Lot Sizes, ADUs, SB 9, Multiple Family Homes, Hillside and Airport Areas, Permits and Fees

This guide covers the City of Burbank, California, a city of 102,988 people in Los Angeles County. The zoning rules are Title 10 of the Burbank Municipal Code, and the code host says the code is current through an ordinance passed on February 24, 2026. Three facts shape a project here. Every residential lot starts from the same minimum of 6,000 square feet, and the multiple family zones count homes by lot area. The ADU rules date from 2023, the state housing department has asked for an update, and staff say they apply state law in the meantime. And the City website refused the one request made for this guide, so the fee schedule, the zoning map and the City handouts were not read. The seven guide pages below cover each topic in depth.

Burbank Guide Pages

Start With State Law

Five state laws set the minimum Burbank must allow. SB 9 (2021) allows two main homes on a lot in a single-family zone, a split into two lots, or both, approved by staff with no hearing. ADU law sets the accessory dwelling units (ADUs), second homes on a lot, and junior ADUs a city must allow. SB 684 and SB 1123 allow maps of up to 10 lots with 10 homes. The state density bonus gives extra homes to projects that include affordable homes. And SB 79, the 2025 law on housing near transit, applies here: HCD, the state housing department, says in its advisory that the law "will take effect on July 1, 2026, in Alameda, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and San Diego Counties."

California cities are either general law cities, which follow the state's general rules for city government, or charter cities, which have a charter approved by their voters. Burbank is a charter city. The preamble of its Charter says the people enact it "in order to exercise the benefits of home rule," and Section 200 gives the City "all powers necessary or appropriate to a municipal corporation and the general welfare of its inhabitants, which are not prohibited by the California Constitution and this Charter." The state housing laws above apply to charter cities by their own words: Government Code 65852.21 and 66411.7 define a local agency as a city "whether general law or chartered," and the ADU statutes use the same words.

The City has written three of these laws into its code: ADUs in Division 3 of Article 6, SB 9 in Sections 10-1-608.1 and 10-1-608.2, and the density bonus in Division 5 of Article 6. A search of Title 10 and Title 11 found no section on the small-lot map and no mention of SB 79. The code also has a no-hearing process for projects under the state streamlining laws.

Burbank in Numbers

The US Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 city file estimates 102,988 people in the City of Burbank on July 1, 2025. The 2020 estimates base is 107,333, so the estimate is 4,345 lower, a change of 4.0 percent (VanPlex arithmetic), and the 2024 estimate is 103,423. In that file Burbank is the 71st largest city in California, after San Mateo (103,337) and ahead of Hesperia (102,605). Los Angeles County has 9,694,934 people, so the City holds 1.06 percent of them (VanPlex arithmetic: 102,988 divided by 9,694,934).

The City reports on its housing plan each year. On March 10, 2026 the City Council approved the 2025 General Plan and Housing Element annual progress reports by a vote of 5 to 0. This guide did not read the Housing Element or those reports, so no permit count or housing target is given here.

The Ways to More Homes Compared

Sources: Burbank Municipal Code 10-1-502, 10-1-602, 10-1-608.1, 10-1-608.2, 10-1-620.3, 10-1-628 and 10-1-631; City Council staff report of July 28, 2026; Gov. Code 65912.157, 65915, 66323 and 66499.41.

Zones That Allow Homes

Section 10-1-301 lists 33 zone symbols. R-1 permits a "Single family dwelling, not to exceed one per lot." R-1-H is the same zone with horse keeping. R-2, R-3 and R-4 permit a "Multiple family dwelling," which the code defines as "a residence consisting of two (2) or more dwelling units." The home count comes from lot area: one home per 3,000 square feet in R-2; per 2,400, 2,000 or 1,600 in R-3; and per 2,000, 1,400 or 1,000 in R-4, by lot size. Fractions are rounded down. Section 10-1-626.5 adds General Plan caps of 14, 27 and 43 units per acre. A voter measure of 1989, Measure One, bars the City until January 1, 2030 from raising the maximum number of homes in the Land Use Element. See the zoning districts page.

Lot Sizes and Dividing Land

A new residential lot needs 6,000 square feet, 50 feet of width and 100 feet of depth. Title 11 requires a tentative map and parcel map for fewer than five parcels, decided by the Community Development Director within 50 days, and a tentative map and final map for five or more, decided by the City Council. A tentative map approval lasts 30 or 36 months. The City's SB 9 section allows an urban lot split in R-1 into two parcels, each at least 1,200 square feet, at least 40 percent of the original lot, at least 25 feet wide and at least 50 feet deep, with no flag lots. See the lot size and subdivisions page.

House Lots: ADUs and SB 9

The ADU division, Section 10-1-620.3, limits a new ADU to 850 square feet, or 1,000 with more than one bedroom, 17 feet of height for a detached unit, and 4-foot side and rear setbacks. It prints one ADU per house lot, two detached ADUs per multifamily lot and rental terms longer than 90 days. State law now requires more on the first two points and allows less on the third. HCD wrote to the City on December 5, 2025, the City sent a draft ordinance on February 26, 2026, and on July 28, 2026 the Council gave direction on a staff proposal to remove the local ADU program and keep limits for the horsekeeping zone and the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. No ordinance had reached a Council agenda by October 13, 2026.

Section 10-1-608.1 allows one "SB 9 - Second Single-Family Dwelling" on an R-1 lot, with 4-foot first-floor setbacks, one parking space and no more than four dwelling units on the property. The City text allows denial for an impact on the physical environment and excludes any project in a historic district; the statute, amended effective June 30, 2026, is narrower on both. See the ADUs and SB 9 page.

Three or More Homes

Every project on a multiple family lot needs Development Review by the Director, with a community meeting, mailed notice within 1,000 feet and a 15-day appeal period. Section 10-1-646 requires that "At least 15 percent of all newly constructed dwelling units" be affordable in projects of five or more homes; a five-home project owes one. A fee may be paid in place of the units. Under SB 79, City staff named the Downtown Burbank Metrolink Station and a planned bus rapid transit stop at Glenoaks Boulevard and Alameda Avenue as Tier 2 stops, and on August 11, 2026 the Council set aside $200,000 for environmental review of the mapped areas. An owner who ends a covered tenancy to demolish a building owes at least three months of rent in relocation assistance. See the three or more homes page.

Parking, Setbacks and Height

An R-1 house may be 20 feet to the top plate and 30 feet to the top of a pitched roof, with a floor area ratio (building floor area divided by lot area) of 0.4 on the first 7,500 square feet of lot, 50 percent lot coverage, a 15-foot rear yard and two covered parking spaces. In R-2, R-3 and R-4, a building within 500 feet of single family zoned property is limited to 2 stories and 35 feet to the roof; farther away the limit is 3 stories and 50 feet. Table 10-1-628(A) asks for 2 parking spaces per home in R-2 and 1.25 to 2 in R-3 and R-4, plus guest spaces for four or more homes. See the parking, setbacks and height page.

Hillside, Rancho and Airport Areas

In the hillside area a Hillside Development Permit is needed for grading, for a roof above 16 feet or for more than 3,000 square feet of floor area, and a house needs four parking spaces. In the R-1-H horsekeeping zone the code allows one horse per 3,000 square feet of lot and excludes SB 9. Around the airport, five filing zones decide which projects must notify the Federal Aviation Administration before a building permit. In the Media District, MDR-3 and MDR-4 follow the R-3 and R-4 rules. See the hillside, Rancho and airport page.

Permits and Fees

The Director decides Development Review and Administrative Use Permits; the Planning Commission decides Conditional Use Permits and variances. An appeal of a Director decision is due "by 5:00 p.m. on the 15th day" after it is issued and must be filed in person. Development Review approval lasts one year. The code prints Community Facilities Fees of $3,324 for transportation and $3,599 for other facilities per market-rate multi-family home, amounts set in 2022 and adjusted every July 1; the 2026 adjustment listed in the City budget is 3.9 percent. The current schedule, adopted June 2, 2026 by Resolution No. 26-29,706, was not read. See the permits and fees page.

How Current the Code Is

The code was read on October 11, 2026, one page at a time with pauses, from the code host. Title 10 is one chapter split into articles, and Articles 1 to 6, 9, 11 to 14, 16, 18 to 22, 24 and 25 were saved, with Title 11, Chapter 4 of Title 5, the Charter and the Ordinance List.

Source: Burbank Municipal Code front page and Ordinance List, read October 11, 2026; City Council agendas of May 5 and July 21, 2026.

These are the ordinances that shape the housing rules on these pages.

Sources: history notes at the end of the cited sections of the Burbank Municipal Code; the Ordinance List; and Ordinance No. 26-4,039.

Recent City Council Actions

• January 27, 2026. Staff presented a report on SB 79 that named the Tier 2 stops in the City and recommended seeking changes to the law.
• March 10, 2026. The Council approved the 2025 General Plan and Housing Element annual progress reports, 5 to 0.
• April 21, 2026. The agenda listed an update on the City's specific plans and an item on view obstructing fences in the hillside area, where the Council "Provided direction to maintain the current regulations 5-0."
• May 5, 2026. The Council adopted Ordinance No. 26-4,039, 5 to 0.
• May 20, 2026. A special meeting heard an update on bus rapid transit and SB 79.
• June 2, 2026. The Council adopted the budget and the Citywide Fee Schedule for fiscal year 2026-27, 5 to 0.
• June 30 and July 21, 2026. The Council discussed the draft Downtown Transit Oriented Development Specific Plan and the draft Golden State Specific Plan. The staff reports expect draft environmental reports in September and November 2026.
• July 28, 2026. A study session reviewed updates to the ADU ordinance; the agenda records "MOTION: Provided Direction 5-0."
• August 11, 2026. The Council approved $200,000 for environmental review of the SB 79 areas, 4 to 0 with one abstention.
• September 28, 2026. The Planning Commission agenda listed the Media District Specific Plan Update with an ordinance to amend Title 10.
• October 13, 2026. The Council agenda for this date lists no ordinance on zoning, ADUs or SB 9.

Votes above come from the motion lines the City adds to its agendas after a meeting, and from the signed ordinance and resolution. Minutes were not read.

Where the Code, City Documents and State Law Differ

The guide pages flag each difference where it arises. The main ones:

• The ADU division prints one ADU on a house lot. Government Code 66323 requires a converted ADU, a junior ADU and a detached ADU, and City staff say they follow state law.
• The ADU division prints two detached ADUs on a multifamily lot. The statute allows up to eight on a lot with an existing building.
• ADU size is measured to exterior walls in the City text and as interior livable space in the statute.
• ADUs and junior ADUs must be rented for terms longer than 90 days in the City text. The statutes say 30 days.
• Every junior ADU needs owner occupancy in the City text. The statute requires it only when the unit shares sanitation facilities.
• The SB 9 sections allow denial for an impact on the physical environment and exclude any project in a historic district. The statutes name public health and safety and a narrower historic rule.
• The SB 9 house section asks a second story to step back 15 feet from the rear line. The statute allows a setback of up to four feet.
• The SB 9 sections state no number of days for a decision. The statutes give 60 days.
• Section 10-1-651 prints "less than 55 years" for rental inclusionary units. Section 10-1-639 says 55 years.
• Section 10-1-2005 of Measure One sends all multi-family projects to conditional use review. Table 10-1-627 permits them with Development Review.
• Sections 10-1-626 and 10-1-2124 name the MDR-3 and MDR-4 zones. Section 10-1-301 does not list them.
• The density bonus division prints a maximum of 35 percent. Section 10-1-643 says amended state law prevails.
• The Ordinance List says no ordinance is waiting to be codified. Two contents pages carry "Amended" marks, and three ordinances have been adopted since the code's date.
• The ADU division cites Government Code 65852.2, a section number from before the state renumbered its ADU law in 2024.

Limits of This Guide

The City website, burbankca.gov, answered 403 with a "Just a moment" page to the one request made before this guide began. That is a refusal, and no further request was sent to it. As a result these were not read: the Citywide Fee Schedule, the zoning map, the Burbank2035 General Plan, the 2021-2029 Housing Element, the specific plans, the City's ADU and SB 9 handouts and forms, the inclusionary and density bonus regulations, and the objective design standards adopted by resolution.

Also not read: the SCAG map of SB 79 areas, the fire hazard maps, the FAA Filing Requirement Map, the diagrams inside the code, minutes of any meeting, Burbank Water and Power rules, school fees, and the other titles of the code (only the contents pages of Titles 2, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9 were opened). The City Council agendas from February 24 to October 13, 2026 were read; the Planning Commission agenda of September 14, 2026 was not published. Ask the Planning Division which standards and fees apply to your lot and whether a newer ordinance is in force.

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the California SB 9 page, the California impact fees page and the Los Angeles guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)