Cities | Victorville

Victorville Multiplex Rules 2026: Zoning, ADUs, SB 9, Apartments and Fees

Victorville is a High Desert city in San Bernardino County. Its zoning, subdivision and building rules sit in Title 16 of the Victorville Municipal Code, the Development Code, which the City publishes on Municode. The code permits apartments in set density bands in R-2, R-3 and R-4, writes SB 9 and the state small-lot laws into its own section, and rewrote its ADU rules in September 2026. This page sums up the routes to two, three, four or more homes on a Victorville lot, what each allows, and where the code and state law differ. The seven guide pages below cover each topic in depth.

Victorville Guide Pages

Start With State Law

Four state laws set the floor Victorville must allow. SB 9 (2021) allows two main homes on a lot in a single-family zone, a split into two lots, or both, approved by staff with no hearing. ADU law sets the accessory dwelling units (ADUs), which are second homes on a lot, and junior ADUs a city must allow; a junior ADU is a unit of 500 square feet or less inside the house. SB 684 and SB 1123 allow maps of up to 10 lots with 10 homes. The state density bonus gives extra homes to projects of five or more units that include affordable homes.

Victorville carries the first three into its own code: ADUs in Section 16-3.07.030 and SB 9 and the small-lot laws in Section 16-3.08.050, which says its purpose is "to implement California Government Code Sections 65852.21, 65852.28, 65913.4.5, 66411.7, and 66499.41." The SB 9 statutes apply to every city "whether general law or chartered," so the City's form of government does not change these rights.

SB 79 allows taller and denser projects near qualifying rail and bus stops. HCD's SB 79 advisory says its upzoning provisions took 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." San Bernardino County is not on that list, so SB 79 does not change zoning in Victorville today.

Victorville in Numbers

The US Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 city file estimates 141,395 people in the City of Victorville on July 1, 2025, up from a 2020 estimates base of 134,826. In that file Victorville is the 41st largest city in California, after Escondido (146,030) and ahead of Fullerton (138,675). San Bernardino County has 2,224,091 people in the same file.

Most housing decisions are made by staff or the Planning Commission. The Zoning Administrator decides SB 9 projects, small-lot maps and minor site plans on existing sites. The Planning Commission decides site plans for new development, conditional use permits, variances and tentative maps. The City Council decides zone changes, specific plans and planned unit developments, and hears appeals of Commission decisions. Appeals must be filed within ten days. The permits and fees page has the deadlines.

The Routes to More Homes Compared

Sources: Victorville Municipal Code Table 7-1, Table 8-2, Sec. 16-3.08.050, Table 18-1, Article 16 and Table 5-1; Ordinance No. 2469.

Zones That Allow Homes

Section 16-3.06.010 lists eight residential districts. AE, S-R, R-1 and R-MPD are house districts, with R-1 at up to 5 homes per gross acre on 7,200 square foot lots. R-2, R-3 and R-4 are apartment districts at up to 12, 20 and 30 homes per gross acre, and Table 7-1 does not permit a stand-alone house in them. MDR permits both houses and apartments at up to 15 per acre. Two mixed use districts allow apartments at up to 15 (MU-1) and 30 (MU-2) homes per acre, and two overlays add options: the Low Density Residential Infill Overlay for smaller R-1 lots and the Health and Wellness Overlay for housing near health care. See the zoning districts page.

House Lots: ADUs and SB 9

Ordinance No. 2469, adopted September 1, 2026 and in force October 1, 2026, rewrote the ADU section to follow state law. An ADU may be 850 square feet with one bedroom or less and 1,000 square feet with more, "unless otherwise permitted by State ADU Law." A new detached ADU may be 16 feet tall, or 18 feet with a roof pitch that matches the house, and needs only 4 foot side and rear setbacks. No ADU needs parking. A lot with an existing apartment building may add up to eight detached ADUs, never more than its existing homes. See the ADUs and SB 9 page.

Section 16-3.08.050 calls SB 9 homes "urban dwelling units." On single-family land, a lot that is not split may hold "two primary units and up to two ADUs or JADUs." An SB 9 lot split creates two lots of at least 40 percent of the original and 1,200 square feet each, with no more than two homes on each. Each SB 9 home needs one parking space unless it is near qualifying transit. The section excludes lots with "one or more Western Joshua Trees," homes rented in the last three years, and historic property. The lot size and subdivisions page covers lot sizes, maps and small-lot subdivisions.

Three or More Homes

A project of three or more homes is a multiple-family project in R-2, R-3, R-4, MDR or the mixed use districts, and every new residential development needs site plan review, decided by the Planning Commission. Apartments must be at least 500 square feet for a studio, 600 for one bedroom and 800 for two bedrooms. Heights reach 35, 45 and 55 feet in R-2, R-3 and R-4, but "No principal building shall exceed a height of one story when located within one hundred feet of an existing single-family residence." Sites of ten acres or more may use a planned unit development with its own standards. See the three or more homes page.

Parking, Setbacks and Height

A house needs "2 spaces within an enclosed garage." Apartments need 1 space per studio up to 2.5 per four-bedroom unit, with half of tenant spaces covered, plus visitor spaces. In R-1, a house sits 20 feet back from the front lot line (14 feet to a porch) and 20 feet from the rear, with side yards printed as "5 & 10," and may be 30 feet tall. See the parking, setbacks and height page.

Desert Rules

The code's High Desert rules matter for cost and layout: a 96 mph design wind speed and Seismic Design Category E for new buildings, a flood plain district along the Mojave River, one-story homes within 150 feet of Highways 18 and 395 unless a noise study shows otherwise, six-foot masonry perimeter walls around new developments, and front yards of decorative rock and desert plants with no lawn in new tracts. See the desert design and site rules page.

Fees

Victorville sets planning, building and development impact fees by City Council resolution, and those schedules are on the City website, which could not be read for this guide. The code itself sets the maximum monthly sewer charge at $69.01 per single-family home and $36.26 per multi-family home from July 1, 2026. It counts the one-time sewer capacity charge at 1.000 equivalent dwelling unit for a house and 0.916 for each apartment. See the permits and fees page.

Where the Code and State Law Differ

The guide pages flag each gap where it arises. The main ones:

• The density bonus in Section 16-3.08.040 starts at 25 percent low and moderate income homes and is limited to R-2, R-3, R-4 and residential specific plans; Government Code 65915 applies to any project of five or more units at lower set-asides. The statute controls.
• Table 21-1 waives parking near transit only for urban dwelling units; Government Code 65863.2 bars minimum parking on any qualifying residential project within one-half mile of public transit. The statute controls.
• Ordinance No. 2469 makes a junior ADU a permitted use in all eight residential districts in Table 7-1, while its own Table 8-3 allows zero junior ADUs in R-2, R-3 and R-4.
• Section 16-3.08.090 says flag lots "are prohibited," while Section 16-4.05.040 and Title 17 say they "shall be avoided except where essential."
• Section 16-4.01.050 gives lot line adjustments and lot mergers to the Zoning Administrator, while Table 5-1 lists them as staff decisions.
• Section 16-3.06.010 calls R-2, R-3 and R-4 low-medium, medium and high density, while Table 7-1 calls them medium, high and very high density.
• The Supplement 57 ADU text still cites Government Code 65852.2 and 65852.22, which are no longer in the Legislature's code table; Ordinance No. 2469 replaced those citations.

Limits of This Guide

The City's website, victorvilleca.gov, answered "Access Denied" to a request made for this guide, so no City web page, handout, fee schedule, zoning map, specific plan or Council record hosted there was read. The code comes from Municode Supplement 57, and Ordinance No. 2469 from the signed copy in Municode's ordinance bank, which listed no later ordinance on October 9, 2026. The General Plan, the Housing Element and the Victorville Water District's fee resolutions were not read. Confirm the rules for your lot with the Planning Division before you budget or design.

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the SB 9 page, the California rent and tenant rules page and the duplex to fourplex guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)