Burbank | Permits and Fees

Burbank, California Permits and Fees: Development Review, Administrative and Conditional Use Permits, Notice, Appeals, Permit Life and Community Facilities Fees

This page covers how Burbank reviews a housing project and what the code says about fees. The procedures are in Article 19 of Title 10 of the Burbank Municipal Code. The development fees are in Article 22, which prints dollar amounts set in 2022 and raises them every July 1. The current amounts are in the Citywide Fee Schedule on the City website, which answered 403 to this guide and was not read. Every dollar figure below is therefore labelled with where it was printed. The Burbank overview has the summary.

Who Decides What

Burbank has three levels of decision for housing: the Community Development Director, the Planning Commission and the City Council. Most housing projects end at the first level. The table lists the permits a homeowner or small builder is likely to meet, with the sections that set each rule in the notes below.

Sources: Burbank Municipal Code 10-1-1909 to 10-1-1913, 10-1-1955 to 10-1-1959, 10-1-607, 10-1-1935 to 10-1-1951, 10-1-1916 to 10-1-1932, 11-1-308 and 11-1-323, 10-1-620.3 and 10-1-19302.

• What needs no planning permit. Section 10-1-1914 exempts "Single family residential construction projects in a single family residential zone" from Development Review, along with interior remodels and small additions to multiple family buildings that add no home and no more than 500 square feet. Those go straight to a building permit, unless the lot is in the hillside area.
• ADUs and SB 9. Both are checked against written standards with no hearing. The ADU section gives 60 days. The SB 9 sections give no number, and state law gives 60 days; see the ADUs and SB 9 page.
• Combined applications. When Development Review travels with an application that needs the Planning Commission or the Council, that body decides both and "the Director does not act upon the application."
• The City Council. It decides final maps, zone map amendments, and appeals from decisions the Planning Commission made in the first instance.

Development Review Step by Step

• 1. Optional meeting with staff. "Prior to filing an application for Development Review, the applicant may meet with the Director or their designee to discuss possible development design and dedication requirements."
• 2. Filing. The application comes with "the application fee in an amount designated by the Burbank Fee Resolution." Under Section 10-1-1907, "No application or filing shall be deemed complete unless such fees have been paid."
• 3. Completeness. "Not later than 30 calendar days after application submittal, the Director or designee shall determine whether such application is complete." After acceptance the Director "shall not subsequently require a developer to furnish any new or additional information which was not required as a part of the application," apart from environmental review.
• 4. Community meeting. Required for every Development Review. Its notice "must be mailed no less than ten (10) business days prior to the community meeting" and may be combined with the notice of decision.
• 5. Notice of the decision. Mailed "to surrounding property owners and occupants within 1000 feet of the project site" no less than 10 business days before the decision date, with the sign posted for the same period. "The decision may not occur on a date earlier than the date provided in the public notice."
• 6. Decision. "the Director shall approve, conditionally approve, or disapprove the application." The owners "may be required to execute a covenant running with the land" that records the conditions.
• 7. Appeal period. Fifteen days, described below.
• 8. Building permit. The approval ends "within one (1) year of the date of approval" unless "An application for building permit is filed prior to the termination date." Time spent in an appeal or a moratorium is not counted.

An application that stalls can be closed. If the applicant gives no response to City requests "for a period of at least 120 consecutive days, the Director may consider the application withdrawn," after 30 days of written notice. A new application with new fees is then needed.

Use Permits and Variances

• Administrative Use Permit. "the Director shall investigate the application and make a determination within 30 days" of a complete application. The mailed notice tells neighbors "that unless a public hearing is requested within 15 days of the date of mailing, the decision will become final."
• Its findings. Six, among them that the use "will be compatible with other uses in the general area" and that the site "is adequate in size and shape to accommodate the use."
• Where housing meets it. Housing with a commercial use in 12 commercial zones, the Hillside Development Permit, a structure the FAA finds to be a hazard, and a home music lesson business.
• Conditional Use Permit. "The Planning Commission or Council" grants it after a public hearing. Notice is "published once in a newspaper of general circulation in the City at least ten (10) business days before the hearing" and mailed within 1,000 feet.
• Where housing meets it. An additional house on an R-1 lot, a planned residential development, extra height for housing in a commercial zone, and a driveway in a buffer area.
• Variance. Section 10-1-1917 requires four findings, the first that "There are exceptional or extraordinary circumstances or conditions applicable to the property or to the intended use that do not apply generally to other property."
• Use it within 180 days. A Conditional Use Permit or a variance ends if it "is not used within the time specified" or, "if no date is specified within 180 days from the granting of the permit." Either also ends when abandoned "for six (6) consecutive months."

Appeals

• From the Director. Section 10-1-1907.2: "an appeal of the Director's decision must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. on the 15th day following the date that the Director's decision is issued." If City offices are closed that day, the next open day counts.
• How. "An appeal must be submitted in person to the office of the Planning Division on a form provided by the City Planner, and must include the legal basis for the appeal. Mailed, emailed or faxed appeal forms will not be accepted."
• Who. "Any person, including the project applicant, may appeal a decision by the Director."
• The fee. The form comes with "the appeal fee specified in the City of Burbank Fee Resolution." Several people may file one form and share one fee.
• The hearing. "the Planning Commission must hold a de novo hearing," a new hearing on the whole application, with notice at least 10 business days ahead to owners and occupants within 1,000 feet. "The Planning Commission's decision will be final and will not be subject to any further appeal."
• From the Planning Commission. A decision the Commission makes in the first instance "may be appealed to the City Council," and "The City Council's decision will be final."
• Do not rely on a neighbor's appeal. The code says so itself: "No one should forego filing an appeal in reliance on another individual's appeal," because an appeal may be withdrawn.
• Maps. A Director decision on a tentative map is appealed to the Planning Commission "within fifteen (15) days of such action."
• No appeal. A state streamlined approval "may not be administratively appealed."

Community Facilities Fees

An impact fee is a charge on new construction that pays for public facilities the new homes will use. Burbank calls its impact fees Community Facilities Fees. Article 22 covers "Transportation improvement fees," "Library fees," "Park and Recreation fees," "Police fees," "Fire fees" and "Information technology fees." The amounts below are the ones printed in the code by Ordinance No. 22-3,976, effective July 22, 2022.

Source: Burbank Municipal Code 10-1-2220 and 10-1-2227. These are not the current amounts: Section 10-1-2207 adjusts them each July 1, and "Fees are subject to a 5% administration fee."

• Yearly adjustment. Section 10-1-2207: fees "shall automatically be adjusted annually on the first day of July each year," by "the Engineering News Record, Construction Cost Index for the calendar year as of December 31st." The Council may adjust by more or less.
• The 2026 change. The fee change summary in the proposed budget for fiscal year 2026-27 lists "Section 3 - Development Impact Fees" at 3.9 percent, "adjusted by Construction Cost Index as of December 31, 2025 (BMC 10-1-2207)." The adjustments for 2023, 2024 and 2025 were not read, so this page does not work out a current dollar amount.
• When they are paid. For residential projects the fees are "calculated and collected by the Building Official at time of the issuance of a certificate of occupancy or the final inspection, whichever occurs first."
• ADUs. "ADUs up to 750 square feet are exempt; ADUs that are 750 square feet or larger may be charged impact fees but only such fees that are proportional in size (by square foot) to those for the primary dwelling unit."
• Demolition credit. A property "which has had improvements demolished since February 19, 2013, may request a demolition credit," worked out from the square footage and previous use. The request is made in writing "at or before the time of development fee collection," and the credit "runs with the property."
• Other exemptions. Rebuilding after a natural disaster declared by the Governor, and fees on "Low and Moderate Income Housing Projects in accordance with the Density Bonus law."
• Fee appeals. An applicant may appeal a fee decision to the City Council by written notice to the City Clerk "within ten (10) days following the action of the City Official."

Affordable homes pay less. The code prints three levels for each fee, shown here for the two totals.

Source: Burbank Municipal Code 10-1-2220 and 10-1-2227, amounts printed in 2022. The "minimum required quantity" is the number of affordable units a project must provide to be eligible for affordable housing incentives.

The Fee Schedule for 2026-27

Processing fees, appeal fees, map fees and the inclusionary in-lieu fee are in the Burbank Fee Resolution, which the City calls the Citywide Fee Schedule. The June 2, 2026 agenda records the public hearing and the action "Provided Direction and Adopted 5-0." Resolution No. 26-29,706 adopts the schedule "including the amendments to the schedules, tables, fees, taxes, penalties, and charges" listed in the proposed budget. That list was read; the full schedule was not. From the list:

• Zoning procedure fees. "Section 1 - Zoning Procedures and Amendments" rises 2.7 percent, "Fee adjustments by CPI in accordance with the City's Cost Recovery Policy." CPI is the Consumer Price Index, a measure of inflation.
• A new counter fee. "Plan Check - Over the Counter Plan Checks" at "$45/per application."
• A new housing agreement fee. "Affordable Housing Agreement" at $9,021.52, for projects that sign an agreement on affordable homes.
• Monitoring. The yearly monitoring fee for inclusionary housing rises 63.3 percent; the list does not print the dollar amount.
• Faster review for a price. The budget message says notable changes "include fees to expedite the process for plan checks and permit applications."
• The last full study. The budget message says the City last carried out a full study of its user fees in fiscal year 2022-23 and now adjusts fees by the Consumer Price Index.

Fees This Guide Could Not Read

• Planning application fees. Development Review, Administrative and Conditional Use Permits, variances, Hillside Development Permits, ADU and SB 9 applications, maps and appeals.
• The inclusionary in-lieu fee. Section 10-1-647 sends it to the Fee Resolution.
• Building permit and plan check fees. Title 9 and the building section of the schedule.
• Park fees for subdivisions. Article 13 of Title 11 applies "only to subdivisions for which tentative maps were applied for and accepted for processing prior to November 1, 1986," so today's park charge is the parks part of the Community Facilities Fee.
• Utility connection charges. Burbank Water and Power sets water and electric service rules. Its Rules and Regulations were on the June 2, 2026 Council agenda for amendment and were not read.
• Sewer charges and school fees. Title 8 and the Burbank Unified School District fee were not read.

Ask the Planning Division and the Building Division for a written fee estimate before you fix a budget. The California impact fees page explains the state rules on when a city may collect these fees.

Limits of This Page

The code was read from codepublishing.com, where it is stated to be current through Ordinance 26-4,038, passed February 24, 2026. The City website, burbankca.gov, answered 403, a refusal, and no request was sent to it after that. The Citywide Fee Schedule, the City's application forms and checklists, and the nexus study behind the impact fees were not read. Zone changes, planned developments, development agreements and fence exception permits are outside this page. State deadlines for housing projects apply on top of the City rules. Ask the Planning Division whether a newer ordinance or fee resolution is in force.

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the Burbank overview, the California impact fees page and the California permit streamlining page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)