Cities | West Covina

West Covina, California Multiplex Rules 2026: Zoning, ADUs, SB 9, Apartments, the Hillside Overlay and Fees

West Covina, California is a city of 105,301 people in Los Angeles County. Its zoning and subdivision rules sit in one chapter of the Municipal Code, Chapter 26, which the City rewrote in 2024 and published on Municode. The new Development Code has four apartment zones, four mixed-use zones that allow housing, and its own sections for ADUs and SB 9. Parts of the ADU and SB 9 text are stricter than current state law, and on those points the statute decides. This page summarizes the ways to build two, three, four or more homes on a West Covina lot. The seven guide pages below cover each topic in depth.

West Covina Guide Pages

Start With State Law

Four state laws set the minimum West Covina 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), 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 a 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.

West Covina writes ADU law into Article IV, Division 2 of Chapter 26, SB 9 into Division 4 for added homes and Article VIII, Division 11 for lot splits, and the density bonus into Division 3. It has no section of its own for SB 684 and SB 1123 maps, so the statute applies directly. Where a West Covina section is stricter than the current statute, the statute controls; the guide pages name each such point.

SB 79 allows taller and denser projects near qualifying rail and bus stops. The state Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) says in its SB 79 advisory that its height and density rules took effect on July 1, 2026 in seven counties, and Los Angeles County is one of them. Whether a stop in or near West Covina qualifies was not checked for this guide.

West Covina in Numbers

The US Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 city file estimates 105,301 people in the City of West Covina on July 1, 2025, down from a 2020 estimates base of 109,504. In that file West Covina is the 66th largest city in California, after Rialto (106,554) and ahead of Chico (105,081). Los Angeles County has 9,694,934 people in the same file.

The code's preface shows the Municipal Code was adopted on November 13, 1979. Chapter 26 dates from 2024: every section carries Ordinance No. 2519 of February 20, 2024 in its history note. The City's Development Code Update page says staff "has been implementing the new Development Code since it became effective March 2024." The Planning Commission meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month and the City Council on the first and third.

A staff report of May 6, 2025 gives the City's state housing allocation for 2021 to 2029 as 5,346 homes. It says that in 2024 "building permits were issued for 95 new housing units (all accessory dwelling units)," which "increases the number of units issued permits this term to 581 units." On those figures, every new home permitted in West Covina in 2024 was an ADU.

The Ways to More Homes Compared

Sources: West Covina Municipal Code Sec. 26-140, 26-162, 26-256, 26-357, 26-48, 26-54 and 26-212 (Supplement 94); Gov. Code 66323, 65852.21, 66411.7 and 66499.41.

Zones That Allow Homes

The house zones are R-A (Residential Agricultural) and R-1, with six lot sizes from 6,000 to 40,000 square feet shown by a suffix such as R-1-7,500. The use table lists no duplex in either zone. Duplexes and apartments are allowed by right in MF-8, MF-15, MF-20 and MF-45, at 8, 15, 20 and 45 homes per net acre on a site of at least 20,000 square feet, and in the OPMU, NMU, RMU and SMU mixed-use zones at 20 homes per gross acre. The Downtown area has a separate code adopted in 2016, with zones of three to five stories. See the zoning districts page.

House Lots: ADUs and SB 9

Section 26-140 allows a detached ADU of up to 1,200 square feet and an attached one of 850 to 1,200, at a height of 16 feet with three listed exceptions, and with four-foot side and rear setbacks. On a house lot it allows a converted ADU, a junior ADU and a detached new ADU of up to 800 square feet together, as state law requires, though one subsection and the City's ADU page still say one ADU and one junior ADU. ADUs get no separate address or utility meter. See the ADUs and SB 9 page.

SB 9 allows a second primary home on an R-1 lot, which the code calls an urban dwelling unit, of 500 to 800 square feet. An R-1 lot may also be split into two lots of at least 1,200 square feet, each holding two units, and the applicant must sign an affidavit to live in one of the homes for three years. The lot size and subdivisions page covers lot splits, parcel maps and small-lot maps.

Three or More Homes

An apartment or mixed-use project needs a precise plan, a site and design approval, from the Planning Commission after a hearing. Since March 2025, a project that reserves at least 20 percent of its homes for lower-income households is approved or denied by the Community Development Director against the City's Multi-Family Objective Design Standards, with no hearing. The density bonus division follows Government Code 65915 and also lets the City grant larger bonuses by choice. On June 16, 2026 the City Council approved 232 homes on a former school site through a new specific plan. See the three or more homes page.

Parking, Setbacks and Height

A house needs four off-street spaces, two of them in a garage. An apartment needs one to two covered spaces by bedroom count, plus one guest space for every four homes. R-A and R-1 lots need a 25-foot front yard, and a house may have two stories and 25 feet. MF heights range from 30 feet in MF-8 to 55 feet in MF-45, and are lower within 100 feet of a single-family zone. Staff may approve a deviation of up to 20 percent from a height or setback rule. See the parking, setbacks and height page.

Hillside Land, Trees and Fire Zones

Land in the hillside overlay may hold at most one home per gross acre, and land steeper than 45 percent must stay ungraded. A tree permit is needed to remove a front yard tree with a trunk one foot or more across, a native oak or sycamore of six inches or more, or a heritage tree. The state fire maps the City adopted in July 2025 place 47 acres in the Very High zone, where SB 9 projects are excluded unless fire mitigation measures apply. See the hillside, trees and fire zones page.

Fees

West Covina's Master Fee Schedule effective January 1, 2026 lists $1,022.42 for a second unit review of new construction, $6,725.63 for a tentative parcel map and $22,823.46 for a precise plan heard by the Planning Commission. City impact fees total $4,845.86 for a detached house and $3,458.13 for an attached or multi-family home where no subdivision is involved. The schedule may rise each January 1 with the Consumer Price Index. See the permits and fees page.

Recent City Council Actions

• December 20, 2016. The General Plan and the Downtown Plan and Code were adopted.
• December 7, 2021. Urgency Ordinance No. 2493 adopted rules for SB 9 urban lot splits and two homes per lot.
• February 20, 2024. Ordinance No. 2519 adopted the Development Code and merged the subdivision chapter into Chapter 26.
• July 16, 2024. Resolution No. 2024-50 adopted the revised Master Fee Schedule.
• March 18, 2025. Ordinance No. 2525 amended the ADU, SB 9, apartment parking, lot size and map approval sections, in part at HCD's request.
• July 15, 2025. Ordinance No. 2532 designated the 2025 fire hazard severity zones.
• June 16, 2026. Ordinance No. 2540 set a 180-day limit for incomplete applications and added supportive and transitional housing standards. The Municode copy (Supplement 94) still shows the earlier text.
• June 16 and July 7, 2026. The Council approved a 232-home project at 1501 W. Del Norte Street and rezoned the site to Specific Plan No. 33 by Ordinance No. 2541.

Where the Code, City Documents and State Law Differ

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

• Section 26-140(b) allows an ADU, a junior ADU and a detached ADU of up to 800 square feet on a house lot; Section 26-140(k), the City's ADU page and its handout say one ADU and one junior ADU. Government Code 66323 controls.
• Section 26-142 requires the owner to live on site for every junior ADU; Government Code 66333 requires it only where the junior ADU shares a bathroom with the house.
• Division 4 limits an SB 9 home to 800 square feet, one story and 16 feet, with its own design rules; Government Code 65852.21 prohibits standards that do not apply to all development in the zone.
• Sections 26-165 and 26-361 allow denial for an impact on "the physical environment"; the statutes now say "public health and safety" only.
• The City's ADU and lot split pages speak of a 30-day review; Section 26-256 and the statutes set 60 days, after which an application is deemed approved.
• The City's Planning Division page gives parcel maps to the Planning Commission; Table 8-1 gives them to the Director since March 2025.
• Section 17-210 adjusts impact fees each July 1 by a construction cost index; the fee resolution adjusts the schedule each January 1 by the Consumer Price Index.
• The City's Housing Element Update page gives the housing allocation as 5,334 homes; the May 2025 staff report gives 5,346.

Limits of This Guide

The code comes from Municode's Supplement 94, whose Supplement History Table ends at Ordinance No. 2532 of July 15, 2025. Later City actions come from City Council and Planning Commission records in the City's online agenda system and pages on westcovina.gov, read on October 10, 2026. Those records were searched through the October 6, 2026 City Council meeting. They show Ordinance No. 2540 and no later ordinance on ADUs, SB 9 or lot splits. Ordinance No. 2533, on existing drive-through restaurants, was on the October 21, 2025 agenda for adoption, and its minutes were not found. The zoning map, the General Plan, the specific plans other than the Del Norte staff reports, and the 2022 Multi-Family Objective Design Standards document were not read. The Downtown Plan and Code was read from the copy on the City's Zoning page, which is marked December 2016. HCD's reply on the housing element after March 2025 was not found. Whether West Covina is a general law or charter city was not confirmed from a City document. Ask the Planning Division at 626-939-8422 which standards apply to your lot and whether any later ordinance applies.

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the SB 684 and SB 1123 page, the California impact fees page and the duplex to fourplex guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)