Vallejo | Permits and Fees

Vallejo Permits and Fees: Review Authorities, Appeals, Planning Fees and Impact Fees

A Vallejo housing project passes through three kinds of approval. Planning approvals under Part VI of the Zoning Code decide whether the project fits the zoning. Subdivision maps under Title 15 create lots. Building permits approve the construction itself. Each step has a decision maker, a notice rule, an appeal period and a fee. The City Council sets the fees by resolution in a Master Fee Schedule, and the code adds per-home charges called impact fees, which pay for roads, parks and other public facilities that new homes use. This page lists them from the FY 2026-2027 schedule. The Vallejo overview has the summary.

Who Decides What

Source: Vallejo Municipal Code Section 16.601.07, Table 16.601-A. AHLC is the Architectural Heritage and Landmarks Commission.

Under the table's note, "Director Decisions: No Public Hearing Required; PC, DRB, AHLC, CC Decisions: Public Hearing is Required," and "All new construction shall be subject to Development Review pursuant to Chapter 16.605." The Director here is the Planning and Development Services Director. For housing, Note 1 to the use table sets the level by project size: 2 to 10 homes are a Director decision, 11 to 49 homes a Director decision with a Design Review Board recommendation, and 50 or more a Planning Commission decision after a Board recommendation.

Zoning compliance review under Chapter 16.603 is the staff check for uses "allowed as a matter of right." If the plans conform, "a zoning compliance certificate will be issued"; if not, the applicant is told how to fix them. No public notice is needed unless the Director decides otherwise. Its fee is $123 over the counter and $420 when it needs a full plan check.

Development review under Chapter 16.605 is required for "all permits for new construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation alteration, or other improvements to the exterior of a structure." The chapter lists 13 exemptions. They include ADUs that comply with state standards, residential additions under 500 square feet and 14 feet tall that add no story (one every 24 months), and accessory structures under 500 square feet and 14 feet.

Notice, Effective Dates and Appeals

• Mailed notice. Under Section 16.602.08, notice goes out at least 14 calendar days ahead for projects exempt from CEQA, the state environmental review law, and 21 days ahead for projects subject to it. It reaches owners within 300 feet for a Director action and 500 feet for a hearing, or 1,000 feet for "a large-scale, complex, or controversial project." The Vallejo City Unified School District and the agencies that will serve the project are notified too.
• Effective date. A discretionary decision "shall become effective after the expiration of ten calendar days following the date of action, unless an appeal is filed," and no building permit is issued "until the 11th day."
• Appeals. Any person aggrieved may appeal "within ten calendar days of the date of the action," or seven days for a temporary use permit. An appeal of a ministerial decision must rest on facts showing whether the project meets specific standards. Appealing one permit for a project automatically appeals all permits granted with it.
• Appeal fees. $2,733 to a Commission or Board and $905 to the City Council, each "plus noticing fee," in the FY 2026-2027 schedule.

How Long Approvals Last

Section 16.602.12 sets the life of a planning approval when the decision does not set one. Permits for affordable housing or mixed-use projects where housing is at least 75 percent of the floor area, and that have public funding or meet set affordability levels, last three years from the effective date. "All Other Permits" last two years. For new construction, issuing the building permit counts as using the approval, but the approval still lapses if the building permit expires.

The Director may grant a first one-year extension and "a further extension of an additional one year," "for a total of two twelve-month extensions per entitlement," if the written request and fee arrive at least 15 calendar days before the permit expires. Subdivision maps run on their own clock: 36 months for a tentative map under Section 15.08.110, with Planning Commission extensions of up to 36 months more, as the lot size and subdivisions page explains.

State Deadlines for ADUs and SB 9

Two kinds of housing follow state deadlines. Under the ADU chapter in force since October 8, 2026, the Building Division has 15 business days to say whether an ADU application is complete and must approve or deny a complete one within 60 days, or "the application shall be deemed approved." For SB 9 two-unit projects, Government Code 65852.21 sets the same rule: a complete application "shall be considered and approved or denied within 60 days," or it is deemed approved. Vallejo's code has no SB 9 section, so the statute's process applies directly.

Planning Fees

Source: City of Vallejo Master Fee Schedule FY 2026-2027, Planning Division fee pages, "Fees include a 12% surcharge when applicable."

Section 16.101.04 says the City Council "shall by resolution establish, and from time to time, amend the Master Fee Schedule," and that "Applications processed concurrently shall be subject to separate fees for each application filed unless specifically exempted by the city council." So a duplex that needs development review and a minor use permit pays both fees. Hourly items, such as preliminary review at $256 an hour, need a deposit of half the estimated total under Resolution No. 26-128 N.C., and work stops if a further deposit is not paid within ten days of notice.

The schedule adds three surcharges to Building and Planning fees: technology at 4 percent, permit streamlining at 3 percent and General Plan update at 5 percent. "Surcharges are applied to all fees, except those fees prohibited by state law, or as otherwise excluded."

The 2026 Fee Change

The City Council adopted Resolution No. 26-128 N.C. on July 14, 2026, after a fee study by MGT of America Consulting dated August 2025. It revised Building, Planning and Water Department fees "effective 60 days after the adoption of this Resolution," which is September 12, 2026 (VanPlex arithmetic). The City's Planning Division page gives a different date: "Applications submitted on or after September 14, 2026, will be subject to the new fee schedule in effect at the time of submittal." The resolution sets the legal effective date; ask the Permit Center which date it applies to your filing. Starting July 1, 2027, the fees rise each year by "the net change" in the two departments' "salary and benefit costs."

Impact Fees and Taxes per New Home

Source: City of Vallejo Master Fee Schedule FY 2026-2027, Development Impact Fees and Excise Tax; Vallejo Municipal Code Ch. 3.05, Ch. 3.07 and Sec. 3.18.170.

• Excise tax. Chapter 3.05, the "property development excise tax," set $3,000 per home in 1989 and adjusts it every July 1 by consumer price indexes. It is "paid before approval and issuance of a building permit." Accessory dwelling units are exempt.
• Transportation fee. Chapter 3.07 charges single-family homes and multi-family homes differently. It defines multifamily residential as "all residential units developed in the city other than single-family dwellings, hotels, or motels," so each duplex or fourplex home pays the multi-family rate. Its single-family definition "includes any accessory dwelling units."
• Park fee. Section 3.18.170 printed 2007 amounts, from $9,983 for a detached house down to $5,990 for a mobile home, adjusted each January 1 by a Bay Area construction cost index. It is paid "at or prior to the issuance of any building permit." ADUs are excepted. Subdivisions also owe park land or an in-lieu fee under Article I of Chapter 3.18.
• County and school. Solano County's fee and the school district's fee are set by those agencies; the City's Building Division collects them.

For a fourplex, those rates add up per home to $6,689 excise tax, $4,824 transportation fee, $11,632 park fee and, if the County classes it as multi-family, $6,662: $29,807 per home, or $119,228 for four homes before school fees (VanPlex arithmetic). For an ADU, state law bars impact fees on a unit of 750 square feet or less under Government Code 66311.5, and larger ADUs pay in proportion to the house.

Water and sewer service add their own charges. The schedule lists a water tap and meter set of up to 1 inch at $3,397, and the Vallejo Flood and Wastewater District's annual sanitary sewer service charge at $1,240.56 per dwelling unit.

Where the Code and the Fee Schedule Differ

• Old dollar amounts. Section 3.05.030 prints $3,000 and Section 3.18.170 prints $9,983; the fee schedule's adjusted amounts, $6,689 and $16,977, are the ones charged.
• Old references. Chapters 3.05, 3.06 and 3.18 define their terms through sections of the zoning ordinance repealed in 2021, such as "Section 16.04.011." Section 3.05.030 calls the City Charter "the city's Chapter."
• Public facilities fee. Chapter 3.06 lets the Council set a public facilities impact mitigation fee by resolution, but the FY 2026-2027 fee schedule lists no such City fee; the only public facilities fee it lists is Solano County's.
• Effective date of new fees. Resolution No. 26-128 N.C. points to September 12, 2026 and the Planning Division page to September 14, 2026.

Where to Go Next

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)