Ontario | Airport zones and specific plans

Ontario, California Airport Zones, Specific Plans and Historic Resources: Safety and Noise Zones, Height Limits, 52 Specific Plans, PUDs and Certificates of Appropriateness

Three sets of rules apply in addition to the base zoning on some lots in the City of Ontario. Ontario International Airport is inside the city, and an airport land use compatibility plan limits new homes near its runways and under its flight paths. The City has adopted 52 specific plans, documents that replace the Development Code's standards on the land they cover. The City also keeps a register of historic resources with its own permit. This page explains each one and what it means for adding homes. The Ontario overview has the summary.

The Airport Plan and Who Runs It

The plan is the Ontario International Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan, which the code shortens to ALUCP. The copy on the City website is the July 2018 Amendment, and a City staff report of August 18, 2026 says the City Council first adopted the plan on April 19, 2011. The area it covers is the Airport Influence Area, or AIA. Section 1.01.020 of the Development Code makes the plan binding: a land use, development or subdivision in the area "shall be consistent with the requirements of the ALUCP," and "In the event of any conflict between the requirements of this Development Code and the provisions of the ALUCP, the requirements of the ALUCP shall govern."

The City's ONT-IAC page says the Ontario International Airport Inter Agency Collaborative "is represented by all agencies affected by existing and future airport impacts and administered by the City of Ontario," with members from San Bernardino County and the cities of Chino, Fontana, Montclair, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga and Upland. It also states the plan's limit: "The ALUCP does not address existing incompatible land uses and does not place any restrictions on the airport or its flight operations." Table 2.02-1 of the Development Code lists "ONT ALUCP Interagency Review" as a decision of the Planning Director, with appeal to a Mediation Board set up by the plan.

Four Kinds of Airport Rule

Chapter 2 of the plan addresses "four types of airport land use impacts: safety, noise, airspace protection and overflight." Each has its own map. CNEL means Community Noise Equivalent Level, the measure the plan uses for airport noise, stated in decibels (dB). An avigation easement is a recorded right for aircraft to fly over a property and make noise there.

Source: Ontario International Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan, Chapter 2, Sections 6.1 to 6.4 (July 2018 Amendment). The cell-by-cell criteria are in Table 2-2 and Table 2-3.

• Safety. "New residential development is incompatible within all Safety Zones (1 through 5)." Two exceptions apply to house lots: "The construction of a single-family home on a legal lot of record is allowed in Safety Zones 2, 3, and 4 if the use is permitted by the City of Ontario's land use regulations," and "A second-unit as defined by state law is allowed within Safety Zones 2, 3 and 4" on the same condition. Safety Zone 1 covers the runway protection zones.
• Noise. "New residential development is incompatible within the projected CNEL 65 dB contour of ONT," with exceptions "if the structure is capable of attenuating exterior noise from all noise sources to an indoor CNEL of 45 dB or less." The main exception for builders: "Multi-family residential is allowed within the CNEL 65 dB contour if the development can achieve a density that is greater than 8 dwelling units per acre and incorporate interior common space and recreational facilities."
• Airspace. "no object should have a height that would result in a penetration of the Airspace Obstruction Surface depicted for ONT in Map 2-4." The rule covers "structures, antennas, trees, mobile objects, and temporary objects such as construction cranes." The plan gives the airport elevation as 944 feet above mean sea level, and a High Terrain Zone north of the airport where existing objects reach 70 feet.
• Overflight. These policies "do not restrict the manner in which land can be developed or used." They require notice. "The City of Ontario shall require the recording of an overflight notification running with the land as a condition for approval of new residential development that falls within CNEL 60 dB noise contour."

What the Airport Plan Still Allows

• Existing uses. "The Compatibility Plan applies only to new development or future land uses within the AIA." Its policies "do not apply to existing land uses, whether or not they are consistent with the Compatibility Plan."
• A house on an existing lot. Policy SP2 says that outside Safety Zones 1 and 5 and the projected CNEL 70 dB contour, nothing in the plan prohibits "Construction of a single-family detached home, including a second unit as defined by state law, on a legal lot of record as of the date of adoption of this Compatibility Plan," if local rules permit the use.
• Lot line adjustments. These "are permitted provided that new developable parcels would not be created" and the density stays within the plan's criteria.
• Infill. "Residential infill development should not be permitted within Safety Zones 1, 2, and 5." In Safety Zones 3 and 4, the density of an infill site "should not exceed the median density represented by all existing residential lots that lie fully or partially within a distance of 1,000 feet."
• Ministerial permits and easements. Inside the City, an avigation easement "shall be required for new development requiring discretionary" approval in the safety zones, the CNEL 65 dB contour and two airspace areas. The same policy says "an avigation easement dedication is not considered necessary for ministerial actions as defined by each jurisdiction."

For a homeowner, the practical reading is this. An accessory dwelling unit is approved with a building permit and no discretion under Section 5.03.010, and the plan allows a state-law second unit in Safety Zones 2, 3 and 4 and on existing lots outside the CNEL 70 dB contour. A subdivision, a lot split or a multiple-family project inside a safety zone or the CNEL 65 dB contour meets the plan's limits on new residential development. That reading is VanPlex's, drawn from the policy text; the policy maps were not read, so ask the Planning Department which zones cover a given lot. Every residential standards table in the Development Code repeats the point: properties in the AIA "shall be subject to the requirements and standards of the ALUCP."

Chino Airport Overlay

A second airport, Chino Airport, has an influence area that covers land in Ontario. Section 5.01.005 establishes a CNO (Chino Airport) Overlay Zoning District to "delineate the Airport Influence Area (AIA) for Chino Airport as the boundary of the CNO Overlay zoning district" and to adopt a compatibility plan "solely to address impacts within the boundaries of the City of Ontario." Land in the overlay "shall be subject to the requirements of Reference I (Chino Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan) of this Development Code." The August 18, 2026 staff report says the Council adopted the overlay and Reference I on August 2, 2022, and that they limit land uses "as they relate to safety, airspace protection, and overflight impacts." Reference I was not read for this guide.

Specific Plans

A specific plan is a document the City Council adopts for one area, with its own land uses, standards and design rules. The City's Specific Plans page lists 52 documents, in alphabetical order from ACCO Airport Center to West Ontario Commerce Center. Among them are Ontario Center, Ontario Mills (CCC North), Guasti Plaza, The Avenue, Subarea 29, Grand Park, Rich-Haven, Parkside, Esperanza and Edenglen. This guide did not read the plans, so it does not say which ones allow housing.

• The plan governs. Section 1.01.035: "In the event of any conflict between the requirements of this Development Code and the standards contained within an adopted Specific Plan, the requirements of the Specific Plan shall govern." Where the plan is silent, "the regulations set forth in this Development Code shall apply."
• The SP zone. In the SP zoning district, land uses "shall only be allowed pursuant to the applicable Specific Plan document." Section 6.01.030 adds a strict rule: "If no specific plan has been adopted for a property within the SP zoning district, a new specific plan shall be adopted for the property, or the property shall be annexed to an existing neighboring specific plan, prior to the issuance of any grading or building permits."
• Design standards where a plan is silent. The 2025 objective design standards say housing "applications shall utilize ODDS wherever PUD or Specific Plan standards are silent."
• Farm land planned for later development. In the AG (Agricultural) Overlay, new building other than farm buildings and a house on a lot of 10 acres or more "shall first require the adoption of a Specific Plan."
• Who adopts and amends. The Planning Commission recommends and the City Council decides. The fee schedule lists a Specific Plan at a time and materials deposit of $20,000.00, a Specific Plan Amendment at $7,500.00 and a Specific Plan Minor Amendment at $3,000.
• A recent one. The City Council agenda of July 7, 2026 listed the adoption of an ordinance approving the Eucalyptus Business Park Specific Plan, File No. PSP24-003.

The Affordable Housing Overlay gives one choice on SP land. A Tier 1 affordable project on land with an SP base zone and a Medium Density Residential designation "may be developed pursuant to the requirements of either the SP zoning district or the MDR-25 zoning district." The zoning districts page covers that overlay.

Ontario Ranch

The Planning Department page describes Ontario Ranch as "Spanning 13 square miles." The City's fee sheets and the Development Code treat it as its own case in two places.

• Impact fees. The City publishes one fee sheet for the General City area and another for Ontario Ranch. Effective July 1, 2026, the Ontario Ranch sheet totals $58,576 for a detached dwelling, $42,405 for an attached dwelling and $31,026 for a high density dwelling, against $37,595, $29,674 and $22,965 on the General City sheet. Ontario Ranch also pays a habitat mitigation fee of $4,320 per acre at the grading permit, and the sheet lists an "Affordability In-Lieu" fee of $3.58 per square foot.
• Recreation. Section 6.01.010.E has a separate amenity table for Ontario Ranch, with "2 acres of parkland per 1,000 people" as a minimum and a community pool "required at >150 units."

The fee difference is $20,981 for a detached home (VanPlex arithmetic: 58,576 minus 37,595). The permits and fees page has the full tables. The Ontario Ranch specific plans themselves were not read.

Planned Unit Developments

A Planned Unit Development, or PUD, is a smaller version of the same idea: standards written for one site and adopted by ordinance. Section 4.01.030 says a PUD is intended to "Encourage the development of exceptionally high quality, mixed-use, high intensity projects." The City's PUD page posts 15, with names such as Emporia Family Housing, Bungalows on Vine, Downtown Civic Center, Holt and Allyn, and Monterey Avenue.

• Where one is required. In the MU-1, MU-3, MU-6, MU-8B, MU-8C and MU-8E districts, "development shall occur only after a Planned Unit Development has first been adopted for the affected property."
• The test. The Council must find, among five findings, that "The proposed PUD is superior to that which could be obtained through the application of the Development Code or a specific plan."
• The PUD governs. "In the event of any conflict between the requirements of this Development Code and the standards contained within an adopted Planned Unit Development, the requirements of the Planned Unit Development shall govern."
• Cost. The fee schedule lists a Planned Unit Development at a time and materials deposit of $10,000.00 and an amendment at $7,500.00.

Historic Resources

Ontario's Historic Preservation page says the city "was founded in September of 1882 by George and William B. Chaffey" and that "In 2003, the State of California Office of Historic Preservation designated the City of Ontario a Certified Local Government." The rules are Chapter 7.0 and Division 4.02 of the Development Code. The City keeps the Ontario Register of Historic Resources, and the Historic Preservation Commission, which is the seven members of the Planning Commission, ranks resources in three tiers.

Source: Ontario Development Code, Sections 4.02.040.G and 4.02.050.C (Rev. 08.16.2026).

• The permit. A Certificate of Appropriateness is required for any "Alteration, addition, restoration, rehabilitation, remodeling, relocation, repainting, and/or resurfacing of an historic resource," and "Certificate of Appropriateness approval shall be required even if the City requires no other permits." It is also required for "Infill development within a historic district or on a historic property."
• Waivers for small work. A waiver may be issued "for minor alterations to historic resources, provided no change in appearance occurs or the proposed change restores period features," and for accessory structures and additions "less than 650 SF in area or 50 percent of the existing original historic building area, whichever is less," that are not visible from a public street.
• Who decides. Under Table 2.02-1, the Planning Director decides waivers, the Historic Preservation Subcommittee decides certificates for eligible resources, and the Historic Preservation Commission decides certificates for designated landmarks and districts and every demolition, with appeal to the City Council.
• Fees. The fee schedule lists the residential Certificate of Appropriateness at $233.00, the nonresidential one at $1,749.30, a waiver at "No Fee," and a residential Mills Act contract application at $233.00. The code describes Mills Act contracts as a way to provide "economic incentives" for preserving a designated landmark or a contributing structure in a designated historic district.
• Euclid Avenue. In the EA (Euclid Avenue) Overlay, a project that needs a Development Plan "shall require the approval of a Certificate of Appropriateness." The overlay exists to protect "Euclid Avenue's position on the National Register of Historic Places."

Historic status removes two state options and limits a third. The City sections on SB 9 say the lot "shall not be a historic property or within a historic district that is included on the State Historic Resources Inventory," or a site designated by ordinance as a landmark or historic district. A Class 2 ADU within 600 feet of a property listed in the California Register must be "located so as to not be visible from any public right-of-way." On the other side, the Small Lot Infill Subdivision rules let "historic detached bungalow courts on a single lot" be divided into separate lots, with new work done to the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation. The Ontario Register list and the historic district maps were not read for this guide.

Limits of This Page

Chapter 2 of the airport plan was read, with its policy text. The plan's policy maps 2-1 to 2-5, which draw the Airport Influence Area, the safety zones, the noise contours and the airspace surfaces, were not read, so this page places no address in any zone. The cells of Tables 2-2 and 2-3 are coded by color, which the text of the files does not carry, so the tables are linked for reference only. Reference I (the Chino Airport plan), the 52 specific plans, the 15 PUD documents, the Ontario Register and Reference C (the Downtown Ontario Design Guidelines) were not read. City Council agendas from January 7, 2025 to October 6, 2026 were read for changes to the Development Code. Ask the Planning Department at (909) 395-2036, the number the City gives for airport plan questions, which airport zones, plan and historic status apply to your lot.

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the Ontario overview, the California lot eligibility page and the California impact fees page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)