Tracy | Permits and fees

Tracy, California Permits and Fees: Development Review, Use Permits, Appeals, Building and Flood Rules and the Title 13 Impact Fee Rules

A housing project in Tracy can pass through three kinds of City review: a land use approval under Title 10, a map under Title 12 where land is divided, and building permits under Title 9. Fees are charged at each step. The impact fees of Title 13 are due at the building permit, and the City Council rewrote that title in September 2026. This page explains who decides each approval, the deadlines and appeal periods the code sets, and how the fee rules work. It gives no fee amounts: the code holds none, and the City's website could not be read for this guide. The Tracy overview has the summary.

Who Decides What

Sources: Tracy Municipal Code 10.08.3930, 10.08.3950, 10.08.3970, 10.08.4280, 10.08.4310, 10.08.4330, 10.10.040, 12.12.060, 12.16.070 and 12.24.040 (Supplement 69); Ordinance No. 1394.

• The Director. Recent ordinances name the "Director of Community and Economic Development." Older sections of the code say Development Services Director, Community Development Director or Development and Engineering Services Director for the same type of decision.
• The Planning Commission. Section 10.04.020 sets it at "five (5) members appointed by the Mayor with the approval of the Council," and Section 10.04.030 requires "at least two (2) regular meetings in each month." Ordinance No. 1395 of July 7, 2026 changed that to "five (5) regular members and one (1) alternate."
• The City Engineer. Decides tentative parcel maps and lot line adjustments under Title 12.
• The Growth Management Board. The City Manager, with department heads, decides applications for residential growth allotments. See the growth management page.

The Development Review Permit

Article 30 is the City's design and site review. Section 10.08.3920 calls it "a comprehensive review to facilitate the efficient processing of project applications, by combining environmental and public infrastructure review with site and architectural plan review before a building permit is issued." Section 10.08.3930 exempts a new "single-family home or residential duplex or a project consisting of four or fewer single-family homes," an addition or repair "if the exterior is not to be altered," and "an accessory dwelling unit or residential accessory structure."

• Tier 1, City Council. Where the permit "is paired with another application being reviewed by the City Council," where the property "is located within the I-205 overlay zone," or where a specific plan requires Council review. The Council acts "after notice and a public hearing," following a Commission recommendation.
• Tier 2, Planning Commission. Where the permit is paired with another Commission item, where the site is "within 500 feet of a freeway," where a specific plan requires it, or where "the Director refers a development review permit application to the Planning Commission."
• Tier 3, Director. Everything else. The Director decides "after notice and a public hearing, unless the application qualifies for a streamlined ministerial approval without discretionary review, as permitted in Chapter 10.10."
• Findings. Section 10.08.3960 lists what is weighed: "height, bulk, and size of buildings," site layout, landscaping, "off-street parking areas," walls and fences, signs and lighting, and "appropriate City utilities, public infrastructure, circulation, and roadway access."
• Appeal. Section 10.08.3970: "Any person dissatisfied with the action taken on an application for a development review permit may file an appeal to the Planning Commission within ten (10) days after the Director's notice of decision." A Commission action may be appealed to the City Council "within ten (10) days after the Commission's action."
• How long it lasts. Section 10.08.3980: "A development review permit approval lapses two (2) years after the date it became effective unless" a condition allows "up to three (3) years" or "A building permit is issued and construction is begun and diligently pursued toward completion."
• Extensions. The owner applies before the permit lapses. The Director "may approve an extension for up to three (3) years if it finds there are no substantial changes" in the project or in the City rules that affect it. While the request is pending "the City will not issue a building permit."

Use Permits, Variances and Rezonings

A conditional use permit is an approval for a use the zone allows only after a hearing. In the residential zones it applies to condominiums and planned residential developments, and since April 2026 to cluster developments. Article 34 sets the steps.

• Hearing. Section 10.08.4280: "The Commission shall hold a public hearing on each application for a conditional use permit. Such hearing shall be held within thirty (30) days after the date the application was filed." Notice is mailed "not less than ten (10) days nor more than twenty (20) days prior to the date of the hearing" to the owners on the applicant's list, which covers land within 300 feet of the site.
• Decision. Section 10.08.4310: "The Commission shall act on the application within forty (40) days following the closing of the public hearing." It must find, among other things, that the use "will not be detrimental to the public health, safety, or welfare or materially injurious to, or inharmonious with, properties or improvements in the vicinity."
• Appeal. Section 10.08.4330: the decision "shall become final and effective fifteen (15) days after the date of such action, unless, within such fifteen (15) day period, an appeal is filed with the Council."
• Lapse. Section 10.08.4350: "A use permit shall lapse and shall become void six (6) months following the date on which the use permit became effective unless" the permit sets a longer time or "a building permit is issued by the Building Official and construction is commenced and diligently pursued." It may be renewed for six more months.
• Variances. The Community Development Director decides them under Article 28, with a 15-day appeal to the Planning Commission. See the parking, setbacks and height page.
• Rezonings and code changes. Under Article 29 the Planning Commission "shall hold one public hearing" and the City Council decides. Zone boundary changes are posted on the property.
• Other appeals. Where the code says nothing about an appeal, Chapter 1.12 gives "ten (10) working days" to file with the City Manager or the City Clerk, and the Council hearing "shall be held within thirty (30) working days of the date the notice of appeal is filed."

Deadlines Set by State Law

For most permits the Tracy code states no decision deadline. Three kinds of housing application carry one from state law, and the code or a recent ordinance repeats it.

• ADUs. Ordinance No. 1394: the Director decides "within 60 days from the date the City receives a complete application."
• SB 9 projects and lot splits. Sixty days under the statutes, with no City section. See the ADUs and SB 9 page.
• Qualifying streamlined housing projects. Section 10.10.040: approval "within ninety (90) days of a complete application submittal if the development contains 150 or fewer housing units, or within 180 days" for larger ones.
• Maps. Fifty days from a complete application, or after the environmental review, whichever is later.
• Everything else. The state Permit Streamlining Act applies; Title 12 names it in Section 12.12.080. VanPlex covers it on the CEQA and permit streamlining page.

Building Permits, Sprinklers and Flood Rules

• Building code. Section 9.04.030: "The City hereby adopts by reference the code entitled '2025 California Building Code,' Volumes 1 and 2, including appendices C, F, H, I, J, K, P, and Q." The history note ends at Ordinance No. 1367 of December 2, 2025.
• Residential code. Section 9.10.030 adopts the "2025 California Residential Code" with nine appendices.
• Sprinklers. Section 9.10.060: "An automatic residential fire sprinkler system shall be installed in one- and two-family dwellings including all newly installed manufactured homes."
• Fire maps. The Municode ordinance list shows Ordinance No. 1355 of June 3, 2025, "adopting the fire maps issued by the State Fire Marshal" as Section 9.06.080. The maps themselves were not read.
• Flood permit. Section 9.52.120: "A development permit shall be obtained before any construction or development begins within an area of special flood hazard." The application shows the elevation of the lowest floor of every structure "in relation to mean sea level and base flood elevation." The areas are those in the federal "Flood Insurance Study of the City of Tracy, dated January 24, 1991, and all subsequent amendments and/or revisions."
• Flood construction. Section 9.52.150: "New construction and substantial improvements shall have the lowest floor elevation, including basement, elevated one foot or higher above the base flood elevation."
• Floodplain Administrator. "The City Development Services Director, or his/her designee."
• Growth allotment. A building permit for a new home also needs a residential growth allotment unless the project is exempt, as an ADU and a project of four homes or fewer on one existing lot are.

How Tracy Sets Its Fees

The code holds the rules for fees and leaves the amounts to City Council resolutions. Section 10.08.4150 says "The filing fees for all applications, appeals, requests for determinations, clarifications, and interpretations provided for in this chapter shall be set by resolution of the Council." Section 12.12.070 says the same for maps and adds "The fees may not exceed the amount reasonably required to administer this title." An impact fee is a one-time charge on new buildings for the public facilities that growth requires. Title 13, "the 'Impact Fee Ordinance,'" is adopted under the state Mitigation Fee Act, Government Code sections 66000 and following.

Sources: Tracy Municipal Code Chapter 10.16, 13.04.040, 13.04.060, 13.12.080, 13.24.030, 13.28.040 and 13.32.070 (Supplement 69); Ordinance No. 1404. No amounts are shown because the City fee schedule was not read.

Title 13 Before and After Ordinance No. 1404

The Municode list of ordinances shows Ordinance No. 1404, adopted September 15, 2026, "amending Chapters 13.04, 13.08 and 13.12, repealing Chapters 13.16 and 13.20, and adding Chapters 13.37 and 13.38, updating the development impact fees." It is marked as pending codification, so the Title 13 pages on Municode still show the older text. The file posted for the ordinance holds the new text of the title; the page with its effective date was not in that file.

• Which fee amount applies. Municode text, Section 13.04.060: the fee "shall be the amount of the fee in effect, pursuant to implementing resolution, at the time that full payment is made to the City." New text: "the amount of fees to be paid under this title shall be the amount of the fee in effect at the time of building permit issuance."
• When it is paid. Both texts: "paid in-full prior to the issuance of any building permit." The new text adds a deferral: "payment of the fee for a residential development project may be deferred to the date of approval of the first temporary certificate of occupancy, the final building inspection, or the issuance of a final certificate of occupancy, whichever occurs first," if the owner signs "a recordable agreement with the City prior to issuance of the building permit," which becomes "a lien on the property."
• Yearly changes. Municode text: each resolution "may include an automatic semi-annual adjustment based upon ENR." New text: fees "may be modified automatically on an annual basis on July 1, in accordance with the change in the Engineering News-Record ('ENR') Construction Cost Index for the San Francisco area. This adjustment shall not require any action of the City Council."
• Project list. The new Section 13.04.050 requires, for each fee program adopted or updated on or after January 1, 2022, a capital improvement plan that serves as the "Impact Fee Project List," reviewed "at least annually."
• Credit for an existing use. New text: where a project replaces or enlarges an existing use, "the fee amount associated with the existing use on the project site, at the current rates then in effect, shall be credited against the new total fee due."
• Asking for a lower fee. New Section 13.04.075: a written request to the Community Development Director "not later than ten (10) days after the City notifies the applicant of the initial determination regarding the fee." The Director decides "within thirty (30) days after the application is filed," and an appeal goes to the City Manager "within ten (10) days," who decides "within fifteen (15) days." An applicant who wants a permit sooner "shall deposit the fee with the application."
• Protest under state law. Both texts give notice of "the ninety (90) day approval period" in Government Code 66020 for protesting a fee or dedication. A developer who misses it "will be legally barred from later challenging" the charge.
• Building a facility yourself. Chapter 13.08 gives a credit against a fee, or a reimbursement, to a developer who builds a public facility on the fee program's list under a written agreement.
• Repealed chapters. Chapter 13.16, Downtown Incentive Area fees, and Chapter 13.20, fees for the Residential Area Specific Plan, are repealed.

Park, Water, County and Regional Fees

• Park land, Municode text. Section 13.12.080: "all development projects shall be required to maintain the City standard of four (4) acres of park land per 1,000 population," by dedicating land or paying a fee, "as a condition of approval of any tentative parcel map or tentative subdivision map, or as a condition of approval of any building permit."
• Park land, new text. Ordinance No. 1404 adds Chapter 13.37 under the state Quimby Act. The amount follows "the residential density" of the map "and the average number of persons per household," and may not exceed the City's existing park area per 1,000 residents "or the City's adopted park land standards." The chapter names the master plan goal of "3 acres per 1,000 new residents of neighborhood park land." "For subdivisions creating 50 parcels or fewer, only payment of a fee shall be required." The new Section 13.12.020 adds a separate Park Impact Fee on new development.
• Park exemptions. New Section 13.37.060 exempts commercial and industrial subdivisions, and condominium conversions of "an existing apartment building which is more than five (5) years old" where "no new dwelling units are added."
• Water capacity fee. New Chapter 13.38: "persons applying for new or expanded water service shall pay a water capacity fee," collected "at the time an application for installation of a new or expanded water service meter is filed." ADUs are exempt unless built with a new house or given "a new or separate utility connection."
• County capital facilities fee. Chapter 13.24 has the City collect a fee for San Joaquin County's "region-serving capital facilities" before the building permit. The amount is "determined by the fee schedule in effect on the date the vesting tentative map or vesting parcel map application is deemed complete, or the date a permit is issued."
• Regional transportation impact fee. Chapter 13.32 requires payment "Prior to the issuance of any building permit." Section 13.32.080 exempts "the replacement of a previously existing legal dwelling unit, including an expansion of an existing dwelling unit that does not create an additional dwelling unit."
• Agricultural mitigation fee. Section 13.28.040: "The owner of farmland to be developed for private urban uses (including but not limited to residential, commercial or industrial) shall pay an agricultural mitigation fee for each acre of farmland to be developed," at building permit issuance. Farmland here means land mapped by the state as Prime Farmland, Farmland of Statewide Importance or Unique Farmland.
• Schools. Chapter 10.16, the "School Facilities Dedication Law," lets the Council require land or fees for interim classrooms in an attendance area it has found overcrowded, set "on a per bedroom basis." The school districts' own fees under state law are separate and were not read.
• ADUs. Ordinance No. 1394: "No impact fee shall be required for an ADU that is less than 750 square feet of gross floor area." Government Code 66311.5 sets the line at "750 square feet of interior livable space or less," and the statute controls.
• Exempt small projects. The growth ordinance exempts four homes or fewer on one lot from allotments, and adds that "the subdivider shall pay all required fees, including impact fees required by title 13 of this Code."

Where the Documents Differ

• Deferral and state law. The Municode text of Section 13.04.060 requires full payment before the building permit "unless otherwise authorized by the Mitigation Fee Act." Government Code 66007 says a local agency that charges fees on a residential development for public improvements "shall not require the payment of those fees or charges, notwithstanding any other provision of law, until the date of the final inspection, or the date the certificate of occupancy is issued, whichever occurs first," with exceptions in its subdivision (b). Ordinance No. 1404 writes a deferral into the City text.
• Two park standards. Municode Section 13.12.080 says four acres per 1,000 population. New Chapter 13.37 cites a goal of three acres of neighborhood park land per 1,000 new residents and leaves the dedication requirement to a Council resolution.
• Code edition. The preface of the Municode copy says the code is current "through Ordinance No. 1359, passed August 19, 2025." The Supplement History Table of the same copy lists ordinances through No. 1390 as included in Supplement 69.
• The file for Ordinance No. 1404. Its pages are headed "Supp. No. 68" and several history notes still read "Ord. 975 C.S., eff. August 15, 1998" under new text. Read the adopted ordinance at the City Clerk's office for the official wording.
• Appeal periods. Ten days for development review and maps, 15 days for use permits and variances, and ten working days under Chapter 1.12. Check which period applies to your decision.
• Titles of officials. Article 30 says Director, Article 28 says Community Development Director, the flood chapter says Development Services Director, and 2026 ordinances say Director of Community and Economic Development.

Limits of This Page

The code comes from Municode's Supplement 69, which lists ordinances through No. 1390 as included. Ordinance Nos. 1394, 1395 and 1404 were read from the Municode ordinance bank. The City's website answered a script with an access denied page. As a result the master fee schedule, the impact fee resolutions and nexus studies, the building permit fee tables, application checklists, meeting calendars and counter hours were not read, and this page gives no fee amount, no phone number for the permit counter and no processing times from City practice. Council and Planning Commission agendas were not read; recent Council actions on this page come from the ordinances the City sent to Municode and from notices filed with the State Clearinghouse. Ask the Planning Division and the Building Division at 333 Civic Center Plaza for current fees and whether a newer ordinance or resolution is in force.

Where to Go Next

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)