Burbank | Lot Size and Subdivisions

Burbank, California Lot Size and Subdivisions: Minimum Lots, Parcel Maps, Tentative and Final Maps, SB 9 Urban Lot Splits and the Small-Lot Map Law

This page covers how large a Burbank lot must be and how land is divided. The lot sizes are in Title 10, the zoning title. The map rules are in Title 11, Subdivisions, of the Burbank Municipal Code. A subdivision is a division of land into lots for sale, lease or financing, and a map is the surveyed drawing that records the new lots. Two state laws add ways to divide a lot that the local rules alone would refuse: the SB 9 urban lot split and the small-lot map law. The Burbank overview has the summary.

Minimum Lot Sizes

Burbank uses one lot standard across its residential zones. Table 10-1-603(A) for R-1 and R-1-H and Table 10-1-628(A) for R-2, R-3 and R-4 both print "Minimum lot area" of "6,000 square feet," "Minimum lot width" of "50 feet" and "Minimum lot depth" of "100 feet." Section 11-1-1101 ties new lots to those numbers: "Each residential lot shall have a minimum width, depth and area to comply with the requirements specified in Article 6 of Title 10."

Sources: Burbank Municipal Code Table 10-1-603(A), Table 10-1-628(A), Table 10-1-624(A), Table 10-1-920(A), 11-1-1101 and 10-1-608.2.

• What the minimums mean for a split. Two standard lots need 12,000 square feet and 100 feet of width (VanPlex arithmetic). A lot smaller than that divides only with a variance or under the state laws at the end of this page.
• Variance. Section 11-1-1101 allows smaller lots when "a variance is granted pursuant to the provisions of Title 10, Article 19, Division 3." A variance is an exception the Planning Commission grants after a hearing when a property has unusual conditions.
• Lot depth. The code defines lot depth as "the average horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines."
• Area for density. "Area of Lot" excludes "any land previously dedicated for a public street easement or right-of-way, or alley easement or right-of-way" when homes are counted.

Lots That Already Exist

• An older, smaller lot can be built on. Section 10-1-1805: "In any residential zone a dwelling and accessory buildings of the type permitted in such zone may be erected on any single lot lawfully created and of record on the effective date of the adoption or amendment of the Zoning Ordinance, notwithstanding limitations on lot area and width." Yards and open space still apply unless a variance waives them.
• Adjoining small lots under one owner are treated as one. Section 10-1-1806 says that where two or more lots "with continuous frontage in single ownership" do not meet width and area rules, "the lands involved shall be considered to be an undivided parcel," and no part may be sold that does not comply. Check this before buying a pair of narrow lots to sell one.
• Lots held as one by agreement. Section 10-1-407 lets the Building Director sign an agreement in which an owner agrees "to hold two (2) or more contiguous parcels of such property as one (1) lot or parcel." A title report shows such an agreement.
• Land taken for public use. If part of a lot is taken for a public use, the rest "may be developed although substandard as to size provided it contains no less than 80 percent of the required lot area."
• Area cannot be sold away. Section 11-1-1108: "No portion of a lot necessary to provide the required area per dwelling unit shall be separated in ownership from the portion of the lot on which the dwelling unit is located."

Parcel Maps and Final Maps

Title 11 sorts divisions by the number of lots. Section 11-1-105: "A tentative map and final map shall be required for subdivisions of five (5) or more parcels, five (5) or more condominiums." Section 11-1-106: "A tentative map and parcel map shall be required for subdivisions of less than five (5) parcels, less than five (5) condominiums." A tentative map is the first drawing, reviewed before the survey is finished. The final map or parcel map is the surveyed version that is recorded with the County.

Sources: Burbank Municipal Code 11-1-102, 11-1-103, 11-1-105, 11-1-106, 11-1-308, 11-1-310 to 11-1-313 and 11-1-322 to 11-1-324.

• The Director route. For parcel maps and all condominium subdivisions the Community Development Director "shall have the authority to approve, conditionally approve or disapprove maps." Section 11-1-323: "Within fifty (50) days after the tentative map has been filed, the Director shall either approve, conditionally approve, or disapprove the map."
• The Council route. For a final map, "Within fifty (50) but not sooner than twenty (20) days after the tentative map has been filed, the Planning Commission shall, by resolution, either approve, conditionally approve, or disapprove the map," and "The Council shall act upon the tentative map within thirty (30) days of the receipt of the Planning Commission's recommendation."
• Department reports. Each department that receives the map files its report "Within twenty (20) days of the filing date." The Burbank Unified School District is on the distribution list.
• Grounds to refuse. A tentative map is disapproved for the findings in Section 66474 of the state Subdivision Map Act, and also "because of flood hazard, inundation, lack of adequate access, lack of adequate water supply or fire protection, insufficient sewerage facilities, potentially hazardous geological conditions."
• Expiration. Approval "shall expire thirty (30) months from the date the map was approved or conditionally approved if prepared for a parcel map and thirty six (36) months" if prepared for a final map. An extension request is filed "at least fifteen (15) days before" expiry, and "An extension of not to exceed two (2) years may be granted."
• Parcel map checking. A parcel map goes first to the County Engineer and then to the City Engineer, each with 20 days to examine it.
• Selling before recording. No lot on a parcel map "shall be sold, leased, or financed before the map is filed with the County Recorder," though a sale contract may be made conditional on the filing.
• Moving a lot line. Section 11-1-109 exempts a lot line adjustment "where the land taken from one parcel is added to an adjacent parcel and a greater number of parcels than originally existed is not thereby created," if a waiver is obtained.

Lot Design and Dedications

• Street frontage. Section 11-1-1102: "Each lot shall front on a dedicated street. In no case shall a lot intended for residential use have a frontage of less than twenty feet (20'), except that in hillside areas the approving body may in the exercise of sound discretion approve narrower frontage if necessitated by the terrain."
• Lot lines. "The side lines of lots shall be approximately at right angles to the street line on straight streets and approximately radial to the street line on curved streets."
• Flag lots. The zoning definitions describe a flag lot as "a lot with a portion that does not meet the minimum lot width requirements (the pole portion of the flag)," also called a "panhandle" lot. Title 11 has no section that bans them by name; the 50-foot width rule and the 20-foot frontage rule are the limits. The SB 9 section bans them outright.
• Condominiums. Section 11-1-1107 lets a condominium map be approved "with lots or parcels which do not comply with the frontage, lot area, lot width and lot depth requirements," if the common areas give proper access, drainage and parking.
• Exceptions. Section 11-1-112 allows exceptions to design standards "other than those prescribed by Title 10" on four findings, including "practical difficulties or unnecessary hardship."
• Dedication. Approval is conditioned on the owners "offering to dedicate for public use any and all parcels of land shown and intended for any public use."
• Park land. Article 13 of Title 11 requires park land or a fee from subdividers, and Section 11-1-1302 limits it: the article applies "only to subdivisions for which tentative maps were applied for and accepted for processing prior to November 1, 1986." New homes today pay the parks part of the community facilities fee; see the permits and fees page.

SB 9 Urban Lot Splits

Section 10-1-608.2, added by Ordinance No. 24-4,010 and effective March 29, 2024, carries out Government Code 66411.7, the lot split half of SB 9. It defines an urban lot split as the "subdivision of one existing single-family zoned lot into no more than two new single-family zoned lots." It applies in the R-1 zone only.

• Size. "Both of the newly created parcels shall be no smaller than 40 percent the lot area of the original parcel," and "Both newly created parcels shall be no smaller than 1,200 square feet."
• Width and depth. Each new parcel must be at least "40 percent the lot width of the original parcel, or a minimum of 25-feet, whichever is greater," and "no smaller than 50-feet" deep. A 50-foot lot split side by side gives two parcels of exactly 25 feet (VanPlex arithmetic), so a narrower mid-block lot cannot meet the width rule that way.
• No flag lots, straight lines. "Creation of Flag Lots, as defined in Burbank Municipal Code Section 10-1-203, shall be prohibited." New lot lines "shall not have any curves or angles" and run front to rear or side to side.
• Frontage and access. Each parcel needs public right-of-way frontage of the same 40 percent or 25 feet, and "shall provide vehicle access onto the parcel from the public right-of way."
• Homes. "A maximum of two (2) Dwelling Units shall be permitted on parcels created through the exercise of an Urban Lot Split." The count includes ADUs and junior ADUs, so the two parcels hold four homes in total.
• Owner occupancy. The owner "shall occupy a Dwelling Unit on one of the resulting lots as their principal residence for a minimum of three years from the date of approval," shown by a signed affidavit. Community land trusts and qualified nonprofit corporations are excused.
• Which lots are excluded. A lot created by an earlier urban lot split; a lot next to one the same owner already split; a project that would demolish or alter housing with restricted rents, rent control, or "Housing that has been occupied by a tenant in the last three years"; land withdrawn from rental under the Ellis Act in the last 15 years; and sites in the hazard and habitat categories of Government Code 65913.4.
• Recorded restriction. The owner records a deed restriction that, among seven points, "Expressly prohibits the rental of any Dwelling Unit on the lot for a period of less than 30 days" and "Expressly prohibits any non-residential use."
• Sale. "Separate conveyance of the resulting lots through an Urban Lot Split is permitted." Homes on one lot "may not be owned or conveyed separately from each other," and condominiums are not permitted on a split lot.
• Utilities and street work. Each lot "shall have its own independent utility connections (sewer, water and electric)." No right-of-way dedication or offsite work is required "except for those necessary to complete standard sidewalk, parkway, and/or drainage improvements directly associated with the subject property."
• Application. The City form, proof of eligibility, the affidavit, the fees, and "A complete tentative parcel map" prepared under Article 2 of Title 11.

Where the City Text and the Statute Differ

Section 10-1-608.2 says of itself: "To the extent that any provision in this Section conflicts with state laws that preempt local standards for an applicable project, state law will control over the conflicting provision." Government Code 66411.7 was last amended effective June 30, 2026, after the City section was written. It defines a local agency as a city "whether general law or chartered," so it binds Burbank, a charter city. These are the differences found.

• Grounds for denial. The City text allows denial for a specific adverse impact "upon public health and safety or the physical environment." The statute names an impact "upon public health and safety." The statute controls.
• Historic districts. The City excludes a project "located within a historic district." The statute excludes a parcel in "a historical landmark property" or a listed landmark site, and in a historic district it bars only a split that requires demolition or alteration of a contributing structure or of "An existing exterior structural wall." The statute controls.
• Deadline. The City section states no number of days. The statute: an application "shall be considered and approved or denied within 60 days from the date the local agency receives a completed application," and if the city has not acted in 60 days "the application shall be deemed approved."
• Width, depth and frontage. The statute lets a city set objective standards, and forbids standards "that would have the effect of physically precluding the construction of two units on either of the resulting parcels or that would result in a unit size of less than 800 square feet." Whether the 25-foot and 50-foot rules do that on a given lot is a question for the Planning Division.
• The Rancho. The City bars splits in R-1-H and cites Government Code 66499.41(h)(2). That paragraph says the SB 9 sections "shall not apply to a site" in "a single-family residential horsekeeping zone designated in a master plan, adopted before January 1, 1994," where the city has a housing element that complies with the law. The City section relies on that paragraph for the Rancho.

The Small-Lot Map Law: SB 684 and SB 1123

A search of Title 10 and Title 11 found Government Code 66499.41 named only in the two SB 9 sections, for the Rancho rule above. Burbank has no local section for the small-lot map itself, so the statute applies directly. See the SB 684 and SB 1123 page for the full rules. The main figures in the version in force through December 31, 2026:

• Size of project. "The proposed subdivision will result in 10 or fewer parcels and the housing development project on the lot proposed to be subdivided will contain 10 or fewer residential units."
• Which lots. "A lot zoned to allow multifamily residential dwelling use is no larger than five acres," or "A vacant lot zoned for single-family residential development is no larger than one and one-half acres."
• Parcel size. New parcels "are no smaller than 600 square feet," and in single-family zones "no smaller than 1,200 square feet."
• Deadline. A city "shall approve or deny an application for a parcel map or a tentative map" under this law "within 60 days from the date the local agency receives a completed application."
• A new version on January 1, 2027. The Legislature's database holds four versions of the section, all dated effective September 30, 2026. A different one becomes operative on January 1, 2027. Read the current text before you file.

Limits of This Page

Title 11 and the cited parts of Title 10 were read from codepublishing.com, where the code is stated to be current through Ordinance 26-4,038, passed February 24, 2026. The City website answered 403, so the City's map application forms, its SB 9 handouts and the fee schedule were not read, and no map fee is given here. Final map preparation, survey monuments, street design and improvement security (Articles 4 to 10, 15 and 16 of Title 11) are outside this page. Ask the Planning Division whether a newer ordinance is in force.

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the Burbank overview, the California SB 9 page and the SB 684 and SB 1123 page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)