Long Beach | Permits and Fees

Long Beach Permits and Fees 2026: Planning Fees, Impact Fees, Building Permits and Deadlines

A small multiplex in Long Beach pays three kinds of City charges: planning fees for reviews such as maps and site plans, building permit fees for plan check and inspection, and development impact fees, one-time charges per home that pay for parks, police, fire and roads. School and sewer fees come on top. This page gives the figures from the schedules that took effect on October 1, 2026, the deadlines the City must meet, and where the City schedule and state law differ.

The Two Paths: Planning Review or Straight to Plan Check

Many small projects never need a planning hearing. An ADU, an SB 9 unit, or a triplex or fourplex that meets an R-3 or R-4 district's rules goes straight to the Building and Safety Bureau for plan check, where a planner checks the zoning at the same time as an engineer checks the building code. The City's ADU and SB 9 page describes the steps: "All construction documents and related permit applications must be submitted in person, and applicable plan check fees are due the same day. Online submissions are not available at this time." After fees are paid, "a Planner and an Engineer from Community Development staff will be assigned to review your plans concurrently," and permits "are issued in person at the Permit Center."

A planning application comes first when the project needs a map, a site plan review (five or more units), a variance, a coastal permit or a historic certificate. The City's Planning Application Process document lists the steps. The application is filed online, and "An application shall not be considered in queue for assignment until a signed copy is uploaded." Staff then "allow up to 10 business days for a virtual intake appointment to be scheduled," fees "must be paid at the time of filing," and corrections follow "Over the next several weeks." For a hearing, the City gives the applicant a 30 by 40 inch notice poster "no later than 14 days before the hearing." After approval, "the appeal period (usually 10 days) must expire with no appeals before you can apply for building permits."

Deadlines the City Must Meet

Each permit has its own clock, set by City code or state law:

• ADU and junior ADU. Government Code 66317 requires a decision "within 60 days from the date the permitting agency receives a completed application," or the application "shall be deemed approved." The City applies state ADU law directly, so this deadline governs.
• SB 9 two-unit project. Government Code 65852.21 sets the same 60 days.
• Urban lot split. Section 20.18.020 requires a decision "within fifty (50) calendar days after a complete application," and notice of missing items "within thirty (30) days."
• Tentative map. Section 20.12.070 requires a hearing "Within fifty (50) days after a tentative map has been deemed complete for processing."
• Site plan review. Section 21.25.507 allows "Sixty (60) days" for site plan review and "Thirty (30) days" for conceptual review.
• Certificate of Appropriateness. Section 2.63.090 gives staff 45 days and the Cultural Heritage Commission 90 days after an application is complete.
• Coastal ADU permit. Government Code 66329 requires a decision on an ADU coastal permit within 60 days of a complete application.

Most of these clocks start only when the City deems the application complete, so the completeness review matters. For maps, Section 20.12.040 says a map "shall not be deemed complete for processing until it complies with all provisions of this Section and any additional information as required by the Director." The state permit deadline rules for larger projects are on the CEQA and permit streamlining page.

Development Impact Fees

The City's fee schedules page says: "On Sept. 8, 2026, proposed updates to the Master Fee and Charges Schedule were approved by City Council. The new fees are now posted and took effect Oct. 1, 2026." The Council minutes record the vote as Resolution RES-26-0131. The Development Impact Fees schedule, "Fee Changes Effective 10/1/2026," lists:

Source: City of Long Beach Development Impact Fees, last updated 10/1/2026. The transportation fee lists one "Residential" rate per dwelling unit.

Worked examples by VanPlex from those rates: a single-family home or SB 9 unit pays $6,937.04 in these four fees; a multi-family home pays $5,602.78; a fourplex pays $22,411.12. The City treats an SB 9 unit as a principal dwelling "subject to the same fees and regulations as any other new home," and the schedule does not say whether a second SB 9 home counts at the single-family or multi-family rate; ask the Permit Center.

Other charges sit outside the table. The schedule lists a sewer capacity fee of $144.34 "Required on new residential, nonresidential, or change of use (when additional sewer capacity is required) development," with no unit stated. The IB-044 Developer Fees Guide says the school fee is paid "to the School District where the project is located (LBUSD or LAUSD) prior to issuance of a building permit," and applies to "residential additions greater than 500 square feet." Projects with affordable units pay an Affordable Housing Administration Fee under Chapters 21.67 and 21.68. In the Coastal Zone, the Sensitive Coastal Resource Impact Fee in Chapter 18.19 may also apply.

Timing: IB-044 says developer fees "are applied at the time a building permit is issued" and "All fees are due and payable prior to issuance of Certificate of Occupancy, unless otherwise stated." Section 18.18.070 makes the park fee "a condition precedent to the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy." The sewer capacity fee "is due and payable prior to issuance of a plumbing permit."

Exemptions, Credits and the ADU Rule

Replacing old homes earns a credit. Section 18.18.120.A says that when an owner replaces "an existing legal dwelling unit or units with an equal or greater number of units on the same lot, then the fee will be paid only for the number of new dwelling units that exceed the number of the existing legal dwelling units," if the old units stood on the lot "within twelve (12) months prior to the application for a building permit." Tearing down one house to build a fourplex therefore pays the park fee on three homes. Homes deed restricted for very low, lower or moderate income households are exempt from the park and transportation fees.

The transportation fee is narrower. Section 18.17.130 exempts building or rebuilding "a single-family dwelling (one unit per lot) on an existing lot of record," but says the exemption "shall not apply to residential tract development, residential development of more than one (1) unit per lot, or to the replacement of a single-family dwelling with more than one (1) dwelling unit."

ADUs follow state law. Government Code 66311.5 says a city "shall not impose any impact fee upon the development of an accessory dwelling unit that has 750 square feet of interior livable space or less or a junior accessory dwelling unit that has 500 square feet of interior livable space or less," and "Any impact fees charged for an accessory dwelling unit that has more than 750 square feet of interior livable space shall be charged proportionately in relation to the square footage of the primary dwelling unit." The City schedule prints flat ADU rates, such as $1,781.39 for parks, with no 750 square foot cut-off and no proportional formula. The statute controls, so those rates can reach only ADUs above 750 square feet, scaled to the main home.

The rates may change soon. A City hearing notice says that "On November 10, 2026, at 5:00 p.m." the Council will receive the Long Beach Development Impact Fee Nexus Study "with a recommendation to adopt the study and a resolution to amend" the park, police, fire and transportation fee schedules. A proposed phase-in schedule posted with it starts on January 1, 2027 and sets separate rates for two subareas. Those figures are proposals, so this page uses the rates in force.

Planning Fees

The Planning Bureau Fee Schedule says "All fees are subject to an 12.0% surcharge," and that "A project's fees are based on the fee schedule in effect at the time the application submittal is completed." The figures below include the surcharge.

Source: City of Long Beach Planning Bureau Fee Schedule, revised October 1, 2026, FY27 fees version.

The schedule has no line named "urban lot split." The City's ADU and SB 9 page says an SB 9 split is filed as a "Tentative Parcel Map entitlement," and Section 20.18.020 says the fee is "an amount established by City Council resolution"; ask the Planning Bureau which parcel map line it charges for a split decided without a hearing. Public hearing notices add $546.56 to $1,270.08 depending on the notice radius, and a CEQA exemption filed alone costs $1,240.96. A third-party appeal to the City Council costs $1,205.12, and an applicant's appeal $11,383.68.

Building Permit and Plan Check Fees

The Building Plan Review and Permit Fees schedule, "Fee Changes Effective 10/1/2026," prices the permit by construction value. For a value from $100,001 to $1,000,000 the permit is "$1,264 for the first $100,000 plus $6 / addt'l $1,000 or fraction thereof." Other lines:

• Standard plan review: "85% of Building Permit fee per Plan Review, but not less than $154."
• Combination permit for a house, duplex or garage (Group R-3 or U-1), covering building, electrical, plumbing and mechanical work: "150% of Building Permit fee per permit, but not less than $170."
• Zoning plan check: "0.5% of project valuation with a minimum fee of $310" for values up to $750,000, and 0.9 percent above that, never more than 95 percent of the building plan check fee.
• Plan revisions: 50 percent of the permit fee, at least $297.
• Title 24 accessibility and energy plan review: 10 percent each of the building plan check fee.

A worked example by VanPlex, for a fourplex valued at $1,000,000: the building permit is $1,264 plus $6 times 900, or $6,664; standard plan review is 85 percent of that, $5,664.40; and zoning plan check is 0.9 percent of $1,000,000, $9,000, capped at 95 percent of $5,664.40, which is $5,381.18. Electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits, the $119.00 processing fee and the surcharges come on top. The fee page adds: "A 6% Technology Surcharge and 6% General Plan Surcharge have been added to all applicable fees."

One line in the schedule reads oddly: expedited plan review costs "2x the Standard Plan Review fee or the Standard Building Plan Review fee plus $359,000, whichever is less." Confirm any expedite fee with the Permit Center before you budget for it.

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the Long Beach overview, the California impact fees page and the CEQA and permit deadlines page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)