Rialto | Permits and Fees

Rialto, California Permits and Fees: Precise Plans, Conditional Development Permits, Appeals, Planning Fees and Impact Fees

A Rialto housing project passes through planning approvals under Title 18 of the Rialto Municipal Code, maps under Title 17 and a building permit. Each approval has a decision maker, a time limit and an appeal process. The City charges flat planning fees from a posted schedule, and new homes pay development impact fees, one-time charges that pay for parks, streets, sewers, police and fire facilities and other public works. This page lists who decides each approval, how appeals work, and the fee amounts the City publishes, with the date of each schedule. The Rialto overview has the summary.

Who Decides What

Sources: Rialto Municipal Code Sec. 18.10.070, 18.113.040, 17.51.040, 18.65.010, 18.65.020, 18.66.090, 18.64.090, 17.16.030 and 18.06.030 (Supplement 39); Gov. Code 65852.21 and 66411.7.

A ministerial approval is checked by staff against fixed written rules with no hearing. A discretionary approval is decided after a hearing, where the decision maker must make findings, the written conclusions the code requires, and may add conditions or deny the project. In Rialto the main discretionary approvals for housing are the conditional development permit, the tentative map and the zone change.

The Precise Plan of Design

The precise plan of design (PPD) is Rialto's site plan and design approval. Section 18.65.010 requires one "before the issuance of any building permit for the new construction of one or more dwelling units in any residential zone." Projects "that solely require a PPD and qualify for a CEQA exemption shall be reviewed and considered by the community development director." Projects that need another approval, or that do not qualify for an exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), go to the Planning Commission with their other approvals.

• Completeness. "Within thirty calendar days, following receipt of the application, the community development department will review the application and inform the applicant whether the application is complete or of any deficiencies. The applicant shall have thirty days to respond." The cycle repeats until the application is complete.
• Hearing date. For Commission cases, staff "schedule a public hearing for planning commission within forty-five days" of a complete application.
• Findings. Approval requires four findings, including that the project "is in compliance with all city ordinances and regulations" and "will not unreasonably interfere with the use or enjoyment of neighboring property rights."
• Acceptance. Approval "does not become effective until the applicant has signed a statement acknowledging awareness and acceptance of any required conditions of approval."
• How long it lasts. "An approved precise plan of design will remain valid for a period of one year from the date of approval," and for one more year if "substantial construction activities are commenced within the one-year period." A further extension is possible for "demonstrated unavoidable delays."
• Appeal. An applicant who disagrees with the Director may appeal to the Planning Commission in writing "within fifteen days of the community development director's action," and the appeal is heard within sixty days.

Conditional Development Permits and Variances

A conditional development permit (CDP) is required for five or more homes in R-3 and in the Housing Opportunity District unless the project qualifies as by right. The Planning Commission "shall hold at least one public hearing," with notice under Government Code 65091, and must make the six findings of Section 18.66.020. It "shall make its findings and determination within thirty-five days from the date of the hearing." The City's entitlement checklist asks for a mailing list of all properties within 660 feet and "One (1) 4' x 8' sign installed on the project site within two (2) weeks after submittal."

A minor variance of up to ten percent from a measurable standard is decided by the Director of Development Services with notice to adjacent owners. Other variances go to the Planning Commission, which under Section 18.64.050 "shall make its findings and determination within thirty-five days from the date of the hearing." See the parking, setbacks and height page.

Appeals

Chapter 18.68 lets "any person aggrieved" appeal a Planning Commission decision to the City Council. The appeal "stays proceedings in the matter appealed from until the determination of the appeal," so the decision is on hold. It must be in writing on the City Clerk's form and "must set forth specifically wherein there was error or abuse of discretion." Section 18.68.040 sets the deadline: "Any appeal shall be filed with the office of the city clerk within fifteen days after the decision appealed from has been rendered or it shall be dismissed by the city council." The Council may "affirm, reverse or modify" the decision. The City Council meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month.

One section is shorter. Section 18.66.090 says a conditional development permit decision "becomes final and binding five days after the rendering of its decision unless within such five-day period an appeal in writing is filed as provided in Chapter 18.68." The two sections give different periods for the same appeal, so file a CDP appeal within five days. Tentative map appeals follow Section 17.16.060, and urban lot split and SB 9 two-unit decisions are "final and non-appealable."

Filing and Review Times

• Before you file. The City's Pre-Application Meeting Request form says "The Pre-application meetings are a free service encouraged prior to submittal for the review of procedures and criteria for entitlement applications."
• Where to file. The Applications and Forms page says "Planning applications may be filed electronically on the City's Online Permitting Center any time of day." One Entitlement Application form covers conditional development permits, precise plans, tentative parcel maps and variances.
• Plan review. The Online Permitting Center page lists its status labels: for "In review," "Review time is 30 days," and a permit is "Expired" when "Plans have not been resubmitted within 180 days or Permit has no approved inspection completed in 1 year."
• Typical times. The Housing Element says "single-family projects take anywhere from a day to two weeks; multi-family projects may take between 4 months to a year; and ADUs go directly to the Building Division for permits." From approval to building permit it gives four to eight weeks for multi-family projects under 20 homes.

Planning Fees

Source: City of Rialto Schedule of Fees, Development and Planning ("Updated 06/15/21"), linked from the City's Fees page.

Rialto charges flat planning fees for most applications. The schedule the City links from its Fees page is marked "Updated 06/15/21" and cites Resolution No. 5222 of May 3, 2005 for each fee. A footnote says most fees "are subject to the annual increase by the escalator adopted by Resolution No 5583." A citywide schedule marked "Effective July 2022" lists the same planning amounts. General Plan amendments, annexations and specific plan amendments are billed at hourly rates against a minimum or deposit. Because the posted schedule is dated 2021, ask the Planning Division at (909) 820-2535 to confirm each fee before you file.

Development Impact Fees per Home

Source: City of Rialto Development Impact and Fair Share Fees ("New fee effective July 01, 2021"), linked from the City's Fees page.

Chapter 3.33 creates these fees. Section 3.33.040 says the amounts are set by City Council resolution and "shall be increased annually on July 1st of each year based on the state of California Construction Cost Index (CCCI)." The schedule on the City's Fees page shows the fees effective July 1, 2021, so the amounts in force in 2026 may be higher. Ask Building and Safety for a current fee estimate.

• When they are due. Section 3.33.070 says fees on a residential project "shall be paid on the date of the final inspection" or "the date the certificate of occupancy is issued," whichever occurs first. In a project of several homes they are paid "on a pro rata basis for each dwelling when it receives its final inspection," meaning home by home. A certificate of occupancy is the City's sign-off that a building may be lived in. Government Code 66007 states the same timing in state law: a local agency "shall not require the payment of those fees or charges" on a residential development "until the date of the final inspection, or the date the certificate of occupancy is issued, whichever occurs first," subject to listed exceptions.
• Storm drain. The schedule's per-home storm drain figures assume 4.92 homes per acre for single-family and 17.4 for multi-family, and the actual fee is charged by the acre: $20,855.03 per acre for single-family land and $25,025.53 for multi-family land.
• Water. The water fee depends on the meter: $3,352.07 for a 5/8 to 3/4 inch meter and $5,597.93 for a one-inch meter.
• Large projects. A Quimby in-lieu fee, a park fee paid in place of giving park land, of $6,515.17 per single-family home and $6,142.98 per multi-family home applies only to projects of 50 or more homes.
• Specific plan fees. The schedule lists extra fees charged inside the Renaissance and Pepper Avenue specific plans, such as $528.10 per home for Pepper Avenue traffic.
• Exemptions. Section 3.33.090 exempts alterations that add no density or trips, replacement of a destroyed building of the same size and use, and lower-income units in a nonprofit project where at least forty-nine percent of the homes are reserved for lower-income households.
• ADUs. Government Code 66311.5 bars impact fees on an ADU of 750 square feet or less. The City's ADU page says "All new ADU's constructed at the same time as a new dwelling must pay DIF fees" and that "School fee letter is required regardless of square footage."

The Housing Element estimates total development and impact fees for "a typical multi-family residential project measuring 34,848 square feet with ten units" on one acre at "$56,483 to $61,483," using a fee schedule dated July 22, 2020. Its fee table shows lower amounts than the schedule now posted, for example $2,113.79 for the single-family general facilities fee against $2,172.98 on the posted schedule.

Where the Fee and Permit Rules Disagree

• Appeal period. Section 18.68.040 gives fifteen days to appeal a Planning Commission decision; Section 18.66.090 makes a conditional development permit decision final after five days.
• Precise plan appeals. Section 18.65.020 sends precise plan appeals to "Section 18.49.040," which is the design review section of the Downtown Revitalization Overlay Zone. That section gives fifteen days to appeal the Director to the Planning Commission.
• Minor variance appeals. Section 18.64.090 refers to "Chapter 16.68, Appeals, of this title"; the appeals chapter is Chapter 18.68.
• Fee dates. The posted impact fee schedule is dated July 1, 2021, while Section 3.33.040 requires a yearly increase. The posted planning fee schedule is dated June 15, 2021.
• ADU fees. Section 18.10.070 exempts ADUs "under seven hundred fifty square feet"; Government Code 66311.5 exempts ADUs of 750 square feet or less. The statute controls.

Where to Go Next

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)