Simi Valley | Three or More Homes

Simi Valley Three or More Homes: RMod, RH, RVH, the Mixed-Use Overlay, Measure N and the Density Bonus

In Simi Valley, three or more main homes on one site means a multi-family project in the RMod, RH or RVH district, or housing in the Mixed-Use Overlay. Every such project needs a Planned Development Permit, must draw from a menu of optional standards once it reaches five homes, and must wait for building permit allocation grants under the City's Measure N growth plan. This page walks through those steps, the density bonus, and the state laws that apply. ADUs and SB 9 homes on house lots are covered on the ADUs and SB 9 page, and the Simi Valley overview has the summary.

Where Apartments Are Allowed

Sources: Simi Valley Municipal Code Table 2-3 and Sec. 9-44.105. Rear setbacks are 20 ft and street side setbacks 10 ft in all three districts.

Table 2-2 permits multi-family dwellings in three residential districts: RMod, RH and RVH. In the commercial and industrial chapter, Table 2-5 permits them only in the column for the Mixed-Use Overlay. RH and RVH do not permit a stand-alone house. In RMod, "Depending on the type of development, either the single-family residential standards or the multi-family residential standards will apply."

The density figures are ceilings. Table 2-3 says the maximum is the most homes "that may be allowed on a single lot or, where applicable, per acre," and that "The Conditional Use Permit or Planned Development processes may result in fewer units being approved than the maximum allowed." As a worked example (VanPlex arithmetic), a two-acre RH site reaches 40 homes at 20 per acre, and the same site in RVH reaches 70 homes at 35 per acre. On land outside the valley floor the hillside chapter can lower these numbers further.

Two setback rules in Table 2-3 matter for tall buildings. In RH and RVH, "An additional 1 ft of setback shall be required for each additional 1 ft or portion of bldg. height over 15 ft" at the front, so a 40 foot building sits 45 feet back (VanPlex arithmetic). Next to a commercial lot, "the distance between habitable structures on each parcel shall be 25 feet, plus 1 additional foot for each foot or portion thereof by which the new structure exceeds 20 feet in height." Setbacks next to open space zones, park district land, homeowner association greenbelts or County flood channels may be cut by up to 50 percent.

The Planned Development Permit

Section 9-52.050 requires a Planned Development Permit for "All residential development projects with two or more dwelling units," and no building or grading permit, "including clearing and grubbing," may be issued until it is approved. Table 5-2 splits the decision: the Director grants Administrative Planned Development Permits for residential projects of two to four homes, and the Planning Commission grants them for five or more. A footnote sends "Senior/Affordable Residential Projects" to the City Council. The Commission holds a public hearing; the Director's action needs no hearing "if it is determined that the proposed project will not substantially affect any property rights of others."

The review body must find that the project is consistent with the General Plan and any specific plan, is "in full compliance with this Development Code," is consistent with "applicable design guidelines," and carries conditions that protect public health, safety and welfare. It may add conditions on buffers, landscaping, lighting, parking, public improvements and time limits. A Planned Development Permit cannot allow a use the base district does not allow.

Required and Optional Standards

Section 9-24.060.B applies to every residential project. Garage and carport roofs match the main building, fences are slumpstone, wrought iron, textured block or a similar wall, visible utility equipment is screened, and roof equipment is hidden from the street and from State Route 118, except solar panels mounted flush with the roof. Multi-family projects add trash enclosures, an "outside, enclosed, lockable, secure storage" area for each unit, and a limit of "up to 25 percent duplex dwellings." Outdoor parking lots need a lighting plan by a registered electrical engineer, with fixtures no taller than 14 feet next to homes.

Section 9-24.060.D then sets optional standards: a menu of features, of which each project must include a minimum number. "Projects with 5 or more dwelling units" need 11, "Affordable housing projects" 7 and "Senior housing" 9. The subsection "does not apply to congregate care housing, or mobile home parks, or administrative planned development permits for residential projects," which under Table 5-2 covers projects of two to four homes. The items for multi-family projects include:

• "50 percent or more of the dwelling units shall have three or more bedrooms."
• "One bedroom dwelling units shall consist of a minimum of 800 square feet and two bedroom units shall consist of a minimum of 1,000 square feet."
• An individual fully enclosed garage for each unit, with direct entry from the unit.
• Parking for each unit no more than 100 feet from it, and separate RV parking for at least 20 percent of the units.
• A "substantial recreation component as determined by the Commission," and a gradual transition to the neighborhood.

Items open to any project include being an "infill project," siting for passive solar, energy features that "exceed the minimum requirements of Title 24 by 10 percent or more," location in an approved specific plan, security devices, an internal horse trail, trim around every window and door, curving streets and varied setbacks, enriched landscaping, and roofs that are not asphalt shingles. For Chapter 9-36 the glossary defines an infill project as one "located on the Valley Floor" that needs a Planned Development Permit.

Measure N: Waiting for Permit Grants

Chapter 9-36 sets out "the process and procedures for issuance of residential building permits under the City's adopted Managed-Growth Plan (Measure N)." It works as a queue:

• "At the beginning of each calendar year, 292 allocation grants shall enter the Residential Building Permit Allocation System," and unused grants carry into the next year.
• A project enters the system automatically on final approval of its Planned Development or Cluster Development Permit, and grants go out "on a first-come, first-served basis."
• A project "may receive up to one-half of the available grants during that calendar year" and keeps its place for the rest.
• Grants are "valid for four years" from the last grant, are "project specific and nontransferable," and return to the system if vested rights are not established in time.
• No residential building or grading permit, "or other City approval that permits any type of physical dirt movement," issues for a non-exempt project until it holds its grants. A final map may record before the grants arrive.
• A model home complex of up to four homes may get building permits on approved pads, but no model home may be lived in until it receives its grant.

Exempt from the count are remodels that add no homes, ADUs and junior ADUs, and one-for-one replacements. A single house on a lot outside an approved but unbuilt Planned Development is "immediately eligible" for a grant, for two such projects per developer each year on sites that are not adjacent. The code text read for this guide does not exempt SB 9 Two-Unit Developments, density bonus homes or affordable projects, so ask the City how they are counted.

Parking for Apartments

Sources: Simi Valley Municipal Code Table 3-4 and Table 4-3. At least one space per unit must be covered.

Table 3-4 applies these figures to "Multi-family dwelling, condominiums and other attached dwellings (three or more attached units)." Each unit gets at least one assigned space no more than 200 feet in walking distance from its entry. As a worked example (VanPlex arithmetic), a fourplex of two-bedroom units needs 8 resident spaces and 2 guest spaces. Government Code 65863.2 bars minimum parking within one-half mile of public transit unless the City makes written findings within 30 days, and the Simi Valley code does not print that exemption, so the statute controls. The parking, setbacks and height page has the full tables.

Mixed-Use Overlay

Section 9-28.080 maps Mixed-Use areas in three figures: the Tapo Street Corridor, the Los Angeles Avenue Area, and the Los Angeles Avenue Transit-Oriented Development and Industrial Area. A project that mixes homes and shops must meet Section 9-44.105: housing at 20.1 to 35 homes per acre; at least 50 percent of floor area in homes and 25 percent in commercial uses; only commercial uses on the ground floor of buildings facing an arterial street; and buildings up to 55 feet and four stories, with accessory buildings at 18 feet and one story. Residential setbacks follow the RVH rules. A single-use project in the overlay follows the rules for that use instead.

Density Bonus

A density bonus is extra homes above the zoning limit in return for affordable homes. Chapter 9-31, adopted by Ordinance No. 1157 in 2010, grants 20 percent for 5 percent very low income or 10 percent low income homes, and 5 percent for 10 percent moderate income homes in a for-sale project, each rising to a "Total maximum bonus" of 35 percent. A 100 percent senior project gets 20 percent. More is "at the sole discretion of the City Council," and "in no event shall the total density of the site, including density bonus units, exceed 45 dwelling units per acre" for housing open to all ages, or 50 for age-restricted housing. The chapter grants one to three concessions from an "exclusive list," such as a 20 percent cut in a setback or a 20 percent increase in height.

Government Code 65915 has moved past this chapter. Its table now gives a 50 percent bonus at 15 percent very low income homes or 24 percent lower income homes, and it applies to any "development project for five or more residential units." Where Chapter 9-31 gives less than the statute, the statute controls. The City could not be checked for a newer density bonus ordinance, because its website refused automated requests.

SB 79 and Other State Laws

SB 79 raises allowed height and density near qualifying rail and bus stops. HCD's advisory says its upzoning in Government Code 65912.157 "will take effect on July 1, 2026, in Alameda, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and San Diego Counties," and that "the geographic scope of SB 79 is dynamic and will modify over time." Simi Valley is in Ventura County, which is not on that list. On apartment lots, state ADU law also lets an owner add ADUs to an existing building; the ADUs and SB 9 page explains how far the City's rules fall short of it.

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the Simi Valley overview, the SB 79 page and the duplex to fourplex guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)