Hayward | Permits and Fees

Hayward Permits and Fees: Approvals, Deadlines, Deposits and Impact Fees

A Hayward project of two to ten homes passes through up to three offices: the Planning Division for zoning approvals, Engineering for maps and grading, and the Building Division for permits. Each charges fees from the City's Adopted Master Fee Schedule for Fiscal Year 2026-2027, effective July 1, 2026, and new homes then pay park, traffic, affordable housing and utility fees before they are occupied. This page sets out who decides, the deadlines, and the amounts. See the Hayward overview for the whole guide.

Who Decides What

Section 10-1.120 splits the work three ways. "The Planning Director has final approval authority for and enforcement of Administrative Use Permits, Site Plan Reviews, and Administrative Variances and extensions of time." The Planning Commission's decisions "shall be final for appeals and referrals of Site Plan Reviews, Administrative Use Permits, Conditional Use Permits and Variances unless appealed to the City Council." The City Council has "final decision authority over appeals of the Planning Commission, Specific Plans, General Plan amendments, Zoning Ordinance amendments and zone changes."

An administrative use permit is a staff decision on a use the table marks "A"; a conditional use permit is decided at a Planning Commission hearing. Site plan review checks the layout and design of a project against the City's standards. In the residential districts it is required "only if the Planning Director determines that a project materially alters the appearance and character of the property or area, or may be incompatible with City policies, standards, and guidelines" (Section 10-1.209). Section 10-1.3010 lets the Director waive it for minor work.

Housing that meets every fixed standard often gets a ministerial path with no hearing: ADUs, SB 9 projects, SB 684 maps, the Streamlined Affordable Housing Overlay and the state streamlining laws in the commercial use table. The fee schedule lists a deposit for "Review of Ministerial Planning Applications." Decisions on discretionary applications follow "the time limits set forth in the Permit Streamlining Act of the State of California" (Section 10-1.3040).

Notice, Effective Dates and Appeals

• Who gets notice. Notices go by first class mail "to the owners and occupants of all parcels within 300 feet of the perimeter of the subject property" (Section 10-1.2820).
• Director decisions. Notice of a Director decision on a site plan review, administrative use permit or variance "shall be given within five business days of the decision." The decision "shall become final on the 16th day following the day the decision is rendered."
• Commission decisions. A Planning Commission decision becomes final "on the 11th day following the day the decision is rendered." Hearing notice goes out "at least 10 days prior to the public hearing."
• Appeals. "All appeals must be filed in the Planning Division prior to the effective date of the decision being appealed," in writing and with a fee. Filing stays the decision until the appeal is decided.
• Council call-up. Any Council member may ask for review "on or before the 10th day" after a Commission decision, or the 15th day after a Director decision, with no fee to the applicant.
• Maps. Map appeals go to the City Clerk "within 10 days after the date of action," with a hearing within 30 days (Section 10-3.235).

How Long Approvals Last

Section 10-1.3055 says "Site Plan Review approval is void 36 months after the effective date of approval" unless a building permit application "has been submitted and accepted for processing by the Building Official" or the time is extended. Once the building permit is issued, the approval is void "two years after issuance of the building permit, or three years after approval of the application, whichever is later," unless the construction "has been substantially completed or substantial sums have been expended in reliance on the site plan review approval." The Planning Director may extend it for a cumulative total that "does not exceed 24 months," on a request filed "at least 15 days prior to the anniversary date." Administrative and conditional use permits carry the same 36 month rule (Sections 10-1.3155 and 10-1.3255).

An application can also lapse before a decision. Under Section 10-1.3020, if the applicant does not supply needed changes and there is "no activity taking place in connection with the application for a period of six months, the application shall be closed." Tentative maps expire 36 months after approval (Section 10-3.246), as the lots and subdivisions page explains.

A variance cannot add homes. Section 10-1.3370 says "In no case may an application be accepted and/or a variance be granted to permit a use or density not permitted in the zoning district," and a variance may not allow a garage to be converted to a use other than parking, except for a resident with a disability.

Planning Deposits for FY 2026-27

Source: City of Hayward, Adopted Master Fee Schedule FY 2026-2027, Development Services Department, Planning, items 2 to 39, effective July 1, 2026.

Most planning fees are time and material deposits. The schedule explains: "This is an initial deposit only to cover staff labor hours and materials," and "the hourly rate of Planning staff is $249." If the costs run past the deposit, the Planning Director asks for more, and "Any surplus deposit remaining shall be refunded promptly upon project completion." The City's SB 9 page puts the SB 9 deposit at "$4,000 - $6,000," which matches the two ministerial deposit rows.

Engineering adds its own deposits: a parcel map application at $5,000, a final map at $15,000 and a grading permit application at $4,000, with construction inspection at "5% on Any amt below $500,000" of construction cost. A conceptual development review meeting for a residential project costs nothing for the first review and $1,245 for each later one.

Building Permit Fees

Building fees start from the project valuation, the City's figure for the cost of materials and labor. The building inspection fee for a valuation of "$500,001 to $1,000,000" is "$5,000 for the first $500,000 plus $7.00 for each additional $1,000." The plan check fee is the inspection fee "x 1.0." The planning review fee is the inspection fee "x .35," the policy planning fee "x .16," the technology fee "x .09" and the permit issuance fee "x .35." By VanPlex arithmetic, an $800,000 valuation gives an inspection fee of $7,100 and a plan check fee of $7,100. Flat fees add a $474 housing review for a building of 1 to 4 homes, $790 for 5 or more, and $158 for an ADU.

Impact and Utility Fees

Source: City of Hayward, Adopted Master Fee Schedule FY 2026-2027: Planning item 43, Engineering item 9, and Utilities sewer and water facilities fees.

Park impact fees come from Article 16. "Developments shall be subject to the impact fee schedule in effect at the time a building permit is issued," and fees are paid "prior to the date of the final inspection or the date the certificate of occupancy is issued for the development, whichever occurs first." Additions that add a bedroom to a home built on or after February 19, 2020 pay the fee for the bedrooms added.

The traffic impact fee of Article 30 is charged "for each new dwelling unit" and paid before final inspection or occupancy, whichever is first. Section 10-30.15(h) says "No fee is applicable for remodeling, adding to an existing unit, or adding an accessory dwelling unit (ADU)." The schedule lists $3,922 for a single-family home or townhome and $0 for a multi-family home, and the fees adjust each fiscal year by a Bay Area construction cost index.

Projects of two or more homes also owe the affordable housing in-lieu fee unless they build affordable homes, at $23.30 per square foot of habitable space for most types and 50 percent for projects under 10 homes; the three or more homes page works an example. By VanPlex arithmetic, three new two-bedroom homes pay $32,097 in park fees and $43,677 in sewer connection charges at the single family to fourplex rate. School fees are outside the City schedule; the City ADU checklist sends owners to the Hayward Unified School District for them.

Smaller Fees That Add Up

• Trees. A tree removal permit costs $498 for up to 2 trees, $996 for 3 to 5 and $1,245 for 6 to 8, with a $1,000 deposit for 9 or more or for a heritage tree. Work done without a permit pays 200 percent of the permit fee on top.
• Building permit extensions. $227 for the first, $454 for the second and $908 for each one after that.
• Addresses. Each new apartment, unit or ADU address costs $340.
• Zoning conformance. $498 for an ADU, under the fixed fee row for Zoning Conformance Permits.
• Rentals after completion. New rental homes enter the rent program fee ($32 per rental unit a year) and the rental housing inspection program ($125 a year for a single-family home through a fourplex).

Where to Go Next

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)