Cities | Fontana

Fontana Multiplex Rules 2026: R-2 Lots, Apartments, ADUs, SB 9, the Form-Based Code and Fire Zones

Fontana publishes its rules in two books on Municode. The Zoning and Development Code, Chapter 30, holds the zoning districts, the ADU and SB 9 sections, parking, the overlays and the No Net Loss program. The Code of Ordinances holds subdivisions, park fees, impact fee timing and the inclusionary housing rule. This page sums up the routes to two, three, four or more homes on a Fontana lot, what each allows, and where City text and state law differ. Chapter 30 was read in Supplement 18, whose history table lists ordinances through No. 1996 of August 11, 2026, and the Code of Ordinances in Supplement 65. The seven guide pages below cover each topic in depth.

Fontana Guide Pages

Start With State Law

Four state laws set the floor Fontana 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), which are second homes on a lot, and junior ADUs a city must allow; a junior ADU is a unit of 500 square feet or less inside the house. SB 684 and SB 1123 allow maps of up to 10 lots with 10 homes. SB 79 raises zoning near qualifying rail and bus stops, but only in an "urban transit county," which Government Code 65912.156 defines as "a county with more than 15 passenger rail stations."

HCD's SB 79 advisory lists Alameda, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and San Diego Counties as the places where the upzoning took effect on July 1, 2026, and adds that "the geographic scope of SB 79 is dynamic and will modify over time." San Bernardino County is not on that list, so SB 79 does not change zoning in Fontana today. SB 9, ADU law and SB 684 all apply now. Fontana wrote SB 9 into Section 30-434.1 (two homes) and Section 30-302.1 (lot splits) in 2021 and 2022, and keeps its own ADU rules in Section 30-467. The code has no section on SB 684, so the statute applies on its own terms.

The SB 9 statutes apply to every city "whether general law or chartered," so Fontana's form of government does not change them. Where Fontana's own SB 9 text is stricter than the statute, for example the 16 foot, one story cap on a new SB 9 home, Government Code 65852.21 bars standards that do not "apply uniformly to development within the underlying zone." The ADUs and SB 9 page sets out each point where the two differ.

Fontana in Numbers

The US Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 city file estimates 221,223 people in the City of Fontana on July 1, 2025, up from a 2020 estimates base of 208,407. In that file Fontana is the nineteenth largest city in California, after San Bernardino (222,044) and ahead of Modesto (219,652). San Bernardino County has 2,224,091 people in the same file.

A five-member City Council governs the city. Resolution No. 2026-078 of July 14, 2026 records four of the five voting yes and one absent. Most housing decisions sit below the Council. Table 30-22 of the Zoning and Development Code gives the Director of Community Development the administrative site plans, tentative parcel maps, lot line adjustments and minor use permits. The Planning Commission decides design review, conditional use permits and tentative tract maps. Staff decide ADUs and SB 9 projects with no hearing.

The Routes to More Homes Compared

Sources: Fontana Zoning and Development Code 30-467, 30-434.1, 30-302.1, 30-434, 30-447, 30-365 and 30-116; Government Code 66499.41.

Districts That Allow Homes

Section 30-423 sets up seven residential districts: R-E Residential Estates, R-1 Single-family, R-2 Medium-density, R-3 Multiple-family, R-4 Multiple-family medium/high density, R-5 Multiple-family high density, and R-PC Residential planned community. Density in each is counted per adjusted gross acre, which the code defines as the gross site area "minus the future area of streets (collectors and above) for public facilities." Table 30-434 allows 2.0 homes per adjusted gross acre in R-E, 5.0 in R-1, 3.0 in R-PC, 7.6 detached homes or up to 12.0 under minor planned unit development standards in R-2, and 12.0 to 24.0 in R-3.

The footnote to Table 30-430 says "Only one single-family dwelling is permitted per legal parcel" in the house districts. R-2 and R-3 add attached single-family homes and multiple-family dwellings, and R-2 allows a minor planned unit development (PUD) by right; a PUD is a project designed as a whole, with its own lot sizes and setbacks. R-4 and R-5, set by Section 30-447, allow 24.1 to 39.0 and 39.1 to 50.0 homes per acre in buildings up to 55 feet. The zoning districts page has the full table.

Fontana also has a Form-Based Code, Article III, for its downtown and its walkable corridors. A form-based code sets building shapes and placement by building type. Its Multi-Family district allows 12 to 39 homes per acre and lists the duplex and multiplex (three to six homes), the bungalow court and the rowhouse as building types. The three or more homes page covers these with R-3, R-4, R-5 and the No Net Loss unit bank.

House Lots: ADUs and SB 9

Section 30-467 sorts ADUs into two classes. Class 1 ADUs follow Government Code 66323, the state rule a city must approve as written: for example, a detached ADU of up to 800 square feet with 4 foot side and rear setbacks and no parking. Class 2 ADUs follow the City's own standards: up to 1,200 square feet, an 18 foot front setback, 4 foot side and rear setbacks, one story, 16 feet tall (18 feet near major transit), and one parking space unless an exception applies. The City's March 2026 ADU sheet says a house lot may combine one junior ADU, one Class 1 ADU and one conversion ADU. See the ADUs and SB 9 page.

For SB 9, Fontana wrote its own limits. Only "individual property owners" may apply, which leaves out LLCs and corporations. Each new SB 9 home must be more than 500 and no more than 800 square feet, one story and 16 feet on a lot over 2,000 square feet, with no rooftop deck. The owner must live on the lot unless it came from an urban lot split. The urban lot split needs a lot of at least 2,400 square feet and makes two lots of at least 1,200, each between 40 and 60 percent of the original. The lots and subdivisions page covers the split, parcel maps and SB 684.

Parking and Setbacks

Parking often sets the size of a Fontana project. Table 30-685.A asks for a two-car garage for a house of up to four bedrooms, and Section 30-688 says those spaces must be in "a completely enclosed garage." Apartments and townhouses need one garage space and one half open space for a studio or one bedroom home, two garage spaces for two bedrooms, plus guest parking of one space for every three homes. Government Code 65863.2 bars minimum parking within one-half mile of public transit unless the City makes written findings. R-1 houses may be 35 feet tall, with a 22 foot front setback. See the parking, setbacks and height page.

Hillsides and Fire Zones

Fontana's hillside overlay applies to the lots mapped in it and requires a hillside development permit on any lot with a slope of 10 percent or more. Table 30-633 cuts the homes allowed as the slope rises, and a slope of 25 percent or more allows no buildings. On July 22, 2025, Ordinance No. 1972 adopted the State Fire Marshal's 2025 fire hazard severity zone map for Fontana. A fire hazard severity zone is an area the state rates by the fire behavior it expects there. New homes in the fire hazard overlay need a fuel modification plan, and SB 9 lots in a very high zone must meet five extra measures. See the hillside and fire zones page.

Affordable Housing and Fees

Fontana's inclusionary housing rule applies to new residential projects of five or more homes or lots. For-sale projects set aside at least 10 percent of new homes for very low, low and moderate income buyers, and rental projects pay an affordable housing impact fee. The state density bonus applies through Article II, Division 25, and the No Net Loss program offers a separate 20 percent bonus drawn from a City unit bank.

Fees come from City schedules. The Development Fees sheet under Resolution 2024-054 lists, for each new single-family home, a circulation fee of $6,685, a park fee of $7,733 and a sewer expansion fee of $8,620, among others. The Planning Application Fees sheet, last revised August 2026, lists a tentative parcel map for a residential lot or urban lot split at $6,153 plus fire and engineering review. A new impact fee schedule adopted on July 14, 2026 takes effect on July 1, 2027. See the permits and fees page.

Changes in Progress

Three changes are under way. First, the new impact fee schedule in Resolution No. 2026-078 starts on July 1, 2027, and from July 1, 2028 it rises each year with the California Construction Cost Index. Second, on October 6, 2026 the Planning Commission recommended code amendments that would let design review and conditional use permits be extended by up to three years; the Council had not adopted them on October 9, 2026. Third, the City Council agenda for October 13, 2026 carries a purchase order for consultants on the 7th cycle Housing Element Update, the City's state-required housing plan. Every rule on these pages is the code in force today.

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the California impact fees page and the duplex to fourplex guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)