Lancaster | Permits and Fees

Lancaster Permits, Appeals, Time Limits and Development Fees

Building homes in Lancaster takes a planning approval for some projects, a building permit for all of them, and a set of one-time fees. A development impact fee is a charge on new building that pays a share of the roads, parks, drains and public buildings the new homes will use. This page explains who decides each application, the notice, appeal and expiry rules, and every fee the Municipal Code lists, with when it is due. The code leaves the dollar amounts to City Council resolutions, so none are given here; ask the City for its current schedule. See the Lancaster overview for the whole guide.

Who Decides Each Application

Sources: Lancaster Municipal Code 17.41.014, 17.41.056, 16.17.040, 17.08.050, 16.16.030, 2.24.020 and 17.24.170; Government Code 65852.21 and 66411.7.

Lancaster has three deciding levels. The Director, defined in Section 17.04.240 as "the Director of Community Development of the City of Lancaster," decides site plan reviews and director's reviews, and staff decide ADU and SB 9 applications. The Planning Commission has "at least five and not to exceed seven commissioners," appointed by the Mayor with Council approval, and under Section 2.24.020 makes "decisions on conditional use permits, tentative tract/parcel maps and other land use applications." The City Council decides zone changes and General Plan changes after the Commission's advice, and hears appeals.

A ministerial approval, like an ADU, is a staff check against fixed rules. A discretionary approval, like a conditional use permit, lets the decision body weigh the project. Under Section 17.32.090 the Commission may approve a conditional use permit only when the use will not "Adversely affect the health, peace, comfort or welfare of persons residing or working in the surrounding area," the site is large enough, and streets and services are adequate. For housing that state law limits to objective standards, Section 17.32.790 narrows a director's review to two tests: public facilities and utilities are or will be available, and the City Engineer has approved vehicle circulation and access, with traffic impacts mitigated to the City's adopted level of service.

Notice, Appeals and Expiry

• Hearing notice. Published in a newspaper and mailed to owners on the applicant's property owner list "No less than 10 days prior to the date of any hearing" (Section 17.36.020).
• Commission decisions. Final "10 working days after the commission's action" unless appealed (Section 17.32.210).
• Appeals to the Council. Filed with the City Clerk "within ten (10) working days after the date of that adverse determination," with a fee set by resolution and refunded if the appeal is dropped before notice is published. The hearing is "de novo," heard fresh, and "If the appeal is not decided in said time period," 60 days after the hearing closes, "it is presumed denied" (Chapter 2.44).
• Conditional use permits. Expire "twenty-four (24) months from the date of planning commission or city council approval," with up to three one-year extensions requested 60 days ahead (Section 17.32.170).
• Site plans. Valid 2 years, with three one-year extensions requested 60 days ahead (Section 17.08.050).
• Tentative maps. Expire after 24 months, with extensions of up to 3 years in total (Section 16.08.140).
• Inactive applications. May be "deemed administratively withdrawn" after one year with no response to the City's last formal comments (Section 17.36.010).

State law sets the clock for the staff-level housing approvals. Lancaster's ADU article sets 60 days and deems an undecided application approved. Government Code 65852.21 and 66411.7 set the same 60 days for SB 9 two-unit projects and urban lot splits, which the City's two chapters do not repeat.

Application Fees

Every planning application carries a filing fee set by the Council. Section 17.36.010 says "the city council shall establish by resolution fees which shall accompany the application or petition at the time of filing." Withdrawn before the hearing notice is published, an application gets "the filing fee and all deposits" back; after publication, "there shall be no refund." Subdivision fees and deposits are set the same way (Section 16.04.120). Final map check fees are due when the map is submitted, and improvement plan check fees are based on the Engineering Division Bond Estimate Form; after the third plan review, more fees apply "if the plans are still not ready for signature by the city" (Section 16.28.020). SB 9 two-unit projects and urban lot splits each carry a fee set by Council resolution and paid with the application.

Impact Fees on New Homes

Sources: Lancaster Municipal Code Chapter 15.64, 15.66.040, 15.67.050, 15.72.020, 15.76.030 and 13.04.090. Amounts are set by City Council resolution.

Chapter 15.64 was rewritten by Ordinance No. 1139 on October 28, 2025. It calls the fee system the "urban structure program," based on the Urban Structure Documentation Report the Council approved "on March 1, 1993, and as amended on August 24, 1999." Section 15.64.030 says "every person constructing any new residential, commercial or industrial development shall pay to the city prior to issuance by the city of a building permit" the fees in the chapter. The Council sets each amount "by resolution," and each resolution must meet the reasonable relationship tests of "Assembly Bill 1600 (Chapter 927 Statutes 1989) as set forth in California Government Code Section 66000, et seq."

Some building is not "residential development" under Section 15.64.020: "Any addition to an existing single-family home," rebuilding after a disaster without adding homes, and a new house on a lot of at least two acres created before the chapter was adopted. A remodel that adds no homes needs no fee-bearing "building permit" as the chapter defines it. Section 15.64.160 allows land or improvements in place of fees, and lets the City Manager waive, reduce or defer the traffic and drainage fees for a project that brings sales tax, jobs or other benefits.

• Late payment. Building without a permit and the fees makes them delinquent, with "a penalty of twenty-five (25) percent" and interest "at the rate of 0.833 percent per month" (Section 15.64.140).
• Challenges. An owner may pay for an independent analysis, then appeal under Chapter 2.44. A cash deposit equal to the fee lets the building permit issue during the appeal (Section 15.64.180).
• Park in-lieu fee. Due for each new home with bedrooms "as provided for in Resolution No. 85-56," or land in its place, before the building permit. Refunds are capped at 90 percent, and "No credit shall be given for private open space" (Chapter 15.72).
• Fire protection fee. Paid to the Consolidated Fire Protection District of Los Angeles County, "based upon the gross square footage," before the building permit (Chapter 15.76).
• VMT fee. Paid "prior to the issuance of construction related permits," only on vehicle miles above the Council's thresholds as shown by a project VMT study; VMT efficient zones, "fifteen (15) percent or more below the adopted thresholds," are exempt (Chapter 15.67).
• Drainage. Collected before any building permit, plus annexation to the drainage benefit assessment district (Chapter 13.04).
• Deferral. Chapter 15.77 allows deferral of up to 5 years only for nonresidential buildings of qualifying tax-exempt groups.

The biological impact fee in Chapter 15.66 pays for regional habitat protection, because "new development of land within the city results in an incremental effect on biological resources." It applies to "all new developments of vacant land": new subdivisions pay "prior to city council approval of a final subdivision map," and projects that need a conditional use permit, site plan review or director's review pay before the grading permit. Section 15.66.050 exempts "new residential uses on existing legally created parcels," so a duplex or fourplex on an existing lot does not pay it. The fee is reduced or waived when a state or federal permit already requires habitat mitigation, and the Council must end it once the City is covered by a habitat conservation plan.

ADUs follow state law. Government Code 66311.5 bars impact fees on an ADU of 750 square feet or less and a junior ADU of 500 square feet or less, and requires any fee on a larger ADU to be "charged proportionately in relation to the square footage of the primary dwelling unit." Chapter 15.64 has no ADU clause, so the statute governs. The California impact fees page explains the state rules.

Where the Code Disagrees With Itself

• The fee resolution section. Sections 15.64.120 and 15.64.130 refer to "the resolution(s) adopted pursuant to Section 15.64.160." Section 15.64.160 covers credits; the section on fee resolutions is 15.64.110.
• Parcel map appeals. Section 16.04.070 sends Title 16 appeals to the Council "pursuant to Chapter 2.44," while Section 2.44.130 says that chapter does not apply to "Hearings to consider parcel maps." Ask the City Clerk which procedure it uses for a parcel map appeal before the 10 working day window closes.

Where to Go Next

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)