El Monte | Permits and Fees

El Monte, California Permits and Fees: Zoning Clearance, Design Review, Appeals, the 2026 Fee Schedule, Tree Permits and Impact Fees

Every housing project in El Monte passes through the Planning Division before it reaches the Building Division. A small project needs one staff check. A larger one needs written staff comments, a hearing and sometimes a second hearing on appeal. This page sets out who decides each permit, how long each step takes, what the City charges in 2026 and which fees are not published in a form this guide could read. The El Monte overview has the summary.

Who Decides What

Sources: El Monte Municipal Code Table 17.10-1, 17.120.040, 17.121.030, 17.122.030 and 17.122.050 (Supplement 36 Update 1).

Section 17.10.050 describes each body. The Planning Commission decides "land use entitlements," the City's word for approvals that give a right to build or use land. The Zoning Review Committee has three members: a Planning Commissioner, the Building Official and the Community Development Director. It approves only "by the unanimous affirmative vote of all of the members," and "If only one member of the Zoning Review Committee disapproves an application, such application shall automatically be referred to the Planning Commission." When one project needs several permits, Section 17.10.080 sends all of them to "the highest review authority."

The City's Planning Commission page gives regular meetings at "7:00 p.m." on the "2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month" in the Council Chambers at City Hall East. The Zoning Review Committee page gives "6:00 p.m." on the "2nd Tuesday of each month." The Planning Division page lists counter hours of "Monday to Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (waitlist closes at 3:00 p.m.)" and says "City Hall is closed on Fridays." City Hall is at 11333 Valley Boulevard.

The Steps, From Counter Visit to Occupancy

The City's Application Review Flowchart shows five stages: "Counter Visit," "Initial Plan Review," "Application," "Review Authority" and "Plan Check and Construction."

• Zoning clearance. Section 17.120.020 says a staff level clearance "shall be received prior to obtaining any other planning or building permit or prior to commencing work." It covers "One new dwelling unit, including urban dwelling units," ADUs, and fences and walls over two feet. Director level clearances cover density bonus requests, Downtown credits and shared parking. A decision letter is due "within thirty (30) days of deeming the application complete," and the clearance is "valid for twelve (12) months."
• Initial plan review. Projects with two new homes, most projects with three or more, and mixed-use projects first file a draft plan for written comments. "The Planning Division shall issue a comment letter within ninety (90) days after a complete application is filed." The formal application "should be submitted within three hundred sixty-five (365) days" of the comments. The fee for an earlier preliminary zoning review "can be credited towards an IPR, if one is submitted for the same property within 6 months."
• Minor design review. The Director decides with no hearing. "The Community Development Director shall issue a decision letter within thirty (30) days of deeming the application complete."
• Design review. The Planning Commission holds a public hearing. Section 17.122.030 requires a newspaper notice "a minimum ten (10) days prior to each public hearing," a mailed notice to owners within "five hundred (500) feet," which the Director may raise to 700 feet, and a notice posted on each street frontage.
• Findings. The Commission must find, among five points, that the design "provides a desirable environment for its occupants, neighbors and visitors." For a housing development project under state law it "must approve or conditionally approve" unless the project fails an objective standard or would harm public health and safety. The three or more homes page explains which projects go to which review.
• How long an approval lasts. A design review or minor design review "shall be valid for two (2) years." The Director may add twelve months, and the Planning Commission may grant more.
• Building permit. The Building and Safety page says projects "submitted for permit application on or after January 1, 2026, must be designed in conformance with the new 2025 California Building Codes." It lists "Climate Zone 9" and "Seismic Design Category D" as design criteria. Building inspections need 24 hours of notice.

Appeals, Inactive Applications and Changes

• Deadline. Section 17.10.100 says "The appeal must be submitted within ten (10) days following the date of the decision." If City Hall is closed on the tenth day, the deadline moves to the next open day.
• Who may appeal. A Planning Commission decision may be appealed by "an applicant or any interested party." For staff zoning clearances and other ministerial actions, a table note says "Only the applicant shall have the authority to appeal."
• Effect. "An approval shall not be valid and no other permits dependent on its approval shall be issued until the appeal period has expired."
• Final decisions. On an appeal of a zoning clearance, "The Planning Commission's decision shall be final."
• Refiling after a denial. A denied discretionary application may not be refiled in the same form "for a minimum of twelve (12) months," unless the Director waives the wait.
• Inactive applications. Under Section 17.10.120, "An incomplete application may be considered inactive if ninety (90) or more days have passed since the application was deemed incomplete." The Director may then give 30 days' notice of withdrawal. State law gives a city 30 days to say whether an application is complete; see Government Code 65943 and the CEQA and permit streamlining page.
• Changes after approval. The Director may approve a minor change that does not expand floor area or height "by ten (10) percent or more" and does not add homes. Other changes return to the body that approved the project.

The Planning Fee Schedule Effective July 1, 2026

Source: City of El Monte, El Monte Planning Division Fees, "Approved 6/17/2026; Effective 7/1/2026."

• What is inside each fee. A schedule note says each total "Includes a 5.0% Technology Fee and a 5% General Plan fee." Each fee covers a set number of staff hours, and time beyond that is billed at $130 an hour.
• Several permits at once. "All City Council Entitlements at 100%. Highest Planning Entitlement at 100%. Other Planning Entitlements at 65%."
• Incomplete submittals. For Planning Commission items, "Each submittal after the 3rd incomplete" costs $475.39.
• How the Council adopted the 2026 change. On June 17, 2026 the City Council adopted Resolution No. 10703 by a 7-0 vote, according to the minutes. The staff report in the agenda packet says "the February 2026 twelve-month CPI increase is 2.9%" and recommends "the CPI increase of 2.9% for applicable user and regulatory fees and Building and Safety Division fee increase by 3.4%." CPI is the Consumer Price Index, a federal measure of price changes.
• Building fees. The same report says Resolution No. 10313 of 2021 "set Building Division fees at approximately 125% of Los Angeles County fees." This guide did not find a posted building permit fee table, so it states no building permit amount.
• Where the schedule must be posted. Section 17.10.150 says the fees follow "the most recently adopted City Council Resolution, which shall be posted on the Planning Division webpage." The City links the schedule from its Applications and Reviews page.

Impact Fees and Park Fees

An impact fee is a one-time charge on new building to pay for public works the new homes will use. Section 15.08.010 authorizes fees for "Sewer facilities," "Storm drain facilities," "Traffic signals" and "Street and transportation facilities." They apply to a new project, to an addition that "adds more than fifty (50) percent of structural area to an existing single or multifamily residential unit," and to work that "results in a net increase in the number of units." The amounts are set "by resolution of the El Monte City Council," and "No building permit shall be issued" until they are paid.

Two park charges sit beside them. A staff report of December 2, 2025, in the December 10, 2025 Council packet, describes Park Facilities Impact Fees as funding parkland that "will mitigate impacts of new residential developments without subdivisions," and Quimby Fees as the charge on subdivisions, based on "at least three (3) acres of land for every one thousand (1,000) persons." Section 16.32.040 is the code basis for the Quimby charge.

Source: City of El Monte, User Fee Study, "Public Works Engineering Fees," posted on the Finance page as "El Monte User Fee Study 2021." Each figure is printed with the unit "Each." These are the study figures; later yearly increases are not included.

• How old the figures are. The study report carries the date April 2019, and the City's Finance page posts it under the year 2021. The June 2026 staff report says the Council adopted amended user and regulatory fees on November 2, 2021, effective January 1, 2022, and approved yearly inflation increases in 2025 and 2026, the latest of 2.9 percent. It adds that "staff will update the applicable User and Regulatory Fees and Development Impact Fees accordingly." This guide found no posted table of the current impact fee amounts. Ask the Engineering Division for a written fee estimate.
• Limit on automatic increases. Section 15.08.010 allows yearly adjustment "by an amount not exceeding seventy-five (75) percent of the annual percentage change in the consumer price index," and for no more than five years in a row before a new fee study.
• Waivers. An applicant may ask the Public Works Director to waive a fee "based upon the absence of any impact of that development on city facilities and services," and may appeal a refusal to the City Council within 10 days.
• ADUs. Government Code 66311.5 bars impact fees on an ADU of 750 square feet or less. See the ADUs and SB 9 page.
• Affordable homes. Section 17.102.070 lets the review authority reduce the Quimby fee, park fee and traffic impact fee on inclusionary homes by up to 25 or 50 percent.
• Public art. Chapter 15.07 applies to "the new construction of four (4) or more residential dwelling units." The fee schedule sets the in-lieu payment at "1% of the construction valuation, to a maximum of $232,554." The code says it "shall be paid by the project applicant before the issuance of building permits."
• Other charges. School district fees, water and sewer connection charges and Los Angeles County charges are set by other agencies and were not read for this guide. The California impact fees page covers the state rules.

Tree Permits

Chapter 14.03 protects three groups of trees. A "Protected Tree" is "any public tree, Heritage Tree or Native Tree." Under Section 14.03.020 a heritage tree includes a woody plant with "a single trunk circumference of thirty-six (36) inches or more," a multi-trunk tree of 75 inches or more combined, and any tree "thirty-five (35) feet or more in height." A native tree is one of 14 listed species, such as coast live oak and California sycamore, "with a trunk more than eight (8) inches in diameter." Trees that are "fruit, nut bearing and all species of palms" are exempt.

• Permit. "No person shall remove, relocate, or destroy" a protected tree without a permit. The City Arborist inspects the tree and may approve removal on listed findings, such as a hazard, disease, or that the tree "is incompatible with the growing space or proposed development."
• Replacement. Section 14.03.090 says "All removed trees shall be replaced with a tree ratio of 2:1," with two 36-inch box trees at least 12 feet tall, or an in-lieu fee to the tree fund.
• Fees. The 2026 schedule lists a "Protected Tree Removal (single-family, per tree)" fee of $221.23 and $475.39 per tree for two or more units, a tree inspection at $86.42 for the first tree, and a "Tree Mitigation Fund" payment of $1,020.75 per tree for the first five trees.
• Penalties. Section 14.03.120 sets a civil penalty "in the amount of the appraised value of each Protected Tree but no more than five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) per tree." The fee schedule lists an after-the-fact fine of up to $6,213.09 per tree. The City may also stop work on a site.
• On plans. The City's Zoning Clearance Applicant's Guide asks for "Trees, existing and proposed landscaping on site" on every plan and says "proposed tree removal shall be specified on plans."

Ordinances After the Code's Date

The Municode copy is current through June 11, 2025. Its list of newer ordinances, read on October 10, 2026, shows six adopted in 2026: No. 3058 (January 28, building codes), No. 3062 (March 18, use of City property), No. 3064 (April 8, tobacco retailers, amending parts of Title 17), No. 3066 (July 22, City hiring rules), No. 3067 (August 26, the 2025 California Building Standards Code) and No. 3068 (September 9, a faster permit process for electric vehicle charging stations). City Council minutes for 2026 also show urgency Ordinance No. 3057 (January 14, a 45-day halt on approvals for significant tobacco retailers) and interim Ordinance Nos. 3063 and 3065 (March 18 and April 22, a temporary halt on new data center applications). By their titles, none of these changes the housing rules described in this guide.

This guide read the City Council regular meeting agendas from January 14 to September 9, 2026, the minutes of six special meetings in 2026, and the posted minutes from June 18 to December 10, 2025. Minutes for the meetings of August 13, August 27 and November 26, 2025 were not posted. Before relying on a section, ask the Planning Division whether a later ordinance is in force.

Where City Documents and the Code Disagree

• How fees rise each year. The fee schedule says "Fees adjusted every July 1st per the Employee Cost Index for State and Local Government Employees." Resolution No. 10703 and its staff report apply the Consumer Price Index for the Los Angeles area. The resolution is the Council's action and controls.
• Committee members. The City's Zoning Review Committee page lists "the City Planner" as the third member. Section 17.10.050 names the Community Development Director.
• Committee name. The Planning Division page says the Division is the liaison to a "Modification Committee." Title 17 has no body of that name.
• Old chapter number. The Zoning Clearance Applicant's Guide cites "Chapter 17.18." Zoning clearances are Chapter 17.120 in the 2025 code.
• Public art base. Section 15.07.030 sets the in-lieu amount at "one percent of the total project cost." The fee schedule uses "1% of the construction valuation."
• Minor design review. Table 17.10-1 lists minor design review under "Ministerial Actions." Section 17.122.040 requires findings on design quality for it, which call for judgment.
• Cross-references. Section 17.122.030 refers to minor design reviews "listed in subsection 17.122.020.B." and "17.122.020.C." The types of review are in subsection A of that section.

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the El Monte overview, the California impact fees page and the CEQA and permit streamlining page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)