West Covina | Hillside, Trees and Fire Zones

West Covina, California Hillside Overlay, Tree Permits and Fire Hazard Severity Zones

Three sets of rules in West Covina apply to the land itself, whatever the base zone says. The hillside overlay limits homes and grading on mapped hill land. The tree division requires a permit to remove certain trees on any lot. The state's fire hazard severity zones, which the City designated by ordinance in 2025, set building and brush-clearing rules and exclude SB 9 projects in the highest zone. Each one can reduce what fits on a lot or add a permit, so check all three before you buy or design. The West Covina overview has the summary.

The Hillside Overlay (Section 26-59)

An overlay zone adds rules to those of the base zone for a mapped area. Section 26-59 says "Hillside areas shall be designated on the zoning map by an 'H' overlay zone," and that the base zone applies "except that the provisions of this article shall supersede conflicting provisions of the base zone." Its stated aims include leaving enough undeveloped land "to form the nucleus of a viable open space system in the San Jose Hills." The City's GIS Data Hub shows which parcels carry the H.

• Density. "The maximum density of any one (1) property within the hillside (H) overlay zone shall be one (1) dwelling unit per gross acre. This maximum density may not be obtained on sites containing extensive areas of steeply sloped terrain."
• Steep slopes. "Any substantial portion of hillside area over forty-five (45) percent slope must be left in an essentially natural, ungraded state." The section adds that "minimal grading be performed on slopes in excess of thirty-five (35) percent, wherever possible."
• How slope is measured. Average slope is S = 100IL/A, where I is the contour interval in feet, L is the combined length of the contour lines and A is the gross area in acres. Contour intervals may not exceed 10 feet. A slope of 45 percent rises 45 feet over 100 feet of level distance.
• What a subdivision must file. A site plan, "exterior elevations of the residences" and "a scale model," with the tentative map. In a hazardous geologic area the City also asks for an engineering geologic investigation and a soils engineering investigation.
• Changing the map. Before the H is applied to or removed from land, "the Planning Commission shall hold a hearing."

Two Ways to Lay Out Hillside Lots

The overlay offers a grouped layout, called density transfer, and a plain one. With density transfer, the homes the property is allowed, "based on one (1) dwelling unit per gross acre," are "transferred and concentrated to a portion of the site." The section says it is the intent "that hillside (H) properties utilize the density transfer wherever it is feasible to do so."

Source: West Covina Municipal Code Sec. 26-59, subsections (f) to (k) (Supplement 94).

• When transfer applies. It applies where it will lower utility, improvement and service costs, "preserve substantial portions of the hillside critical for natural processes, scenic beauty, wildlife habitat," and "leave substantial portions of the site ungraded."
• Choosing the open space. The open areas are to be "Lands with steep slopes," lands with "outstanding scenic or ecological value" and lands that help form an open space system. They are kept "as a collective private open space owned, maintained and enjoyed by the tract's residents," and the City may require easements, rights for the public to cross the land, through them.
• Near slopes. "Structures, eaves or any building appurtenance overhanging slopes shall be prohibited and shall have a clear twenty-five-foot setback from location of slope unless waived by the City building and fire departments."
• Roofs. Roofing must be noncombustible unless a committee of the Community Development Director, the building official and the fire chief waives the rule.
• Planting. Before a final map is recorded, a licensed landscape architect prepares planting and irrigation plans. Slopes over four feet in height must be planted, with shrubs and trees making up at least one-third of the planting, and watered by an automatic system unless the Planning Commission waives it.
• Height incentive. Building heights "may be increased by variance approval" where compatible with the area, as long as views from neighboring parcels are not adversely affected.

One reference in the plain layout uses a term the 2024 code does not define. Section 26-59(i) says lot dimensions, setbacks and coverage "shall conform to Area District V standards." A text search of Chapter 26 finds the words "area district" in only one other section, on animal keeping, and the tables in Article II name the R-1 zones by lot area. City staff still use the older term: a 2026 staff report describes one site as "R-1 Area District 1." Ask the Planning Division which lot size row applies as Area District V before you design one-acre lots.

Houses, Grading and Small Projects on Hill Lots

• Stepped houses. Section 26-46(d) allows "A maximum overall height of thirty-five (35) feet" for a building that steps down the slope, "provided that no point around the perimeter exceeds twenty-five (25) feet and the natural slope is no less than fifteen (15) percent." It needs an administrative permit and a topographical survey. Projects that use "more than two (2) terracing retaining walls and/or retaining walls greater than four (4) feet in height to create a flat building pad do not qualify."
• Space behind the house. On hillside lots with graded pads, "a minimum ten-foot substantially flat area for pedestrian and emergency access shall be provided between the rear of the house and the slope."
• Grading permits. Section 26-210 says no grading permit is issued until a precise plan or related approval covers the land. Two exceptions are listed: "The movement of less than fifty (50) cubic yards of earth," and grading outside the hillside overlay for emergency drainage. Chapter 9 of the Municipal Code holds the grading and erosion control rules.
• Plan check fee. The 2026 Master Fee Schedule lists grading plan check for a project that is not a subdivision at $772.14 for 1 to 50 cubic yards, counting cut, fill and over-excavation together.
• ADUs. The hillside section does not mention ADUs. State ADU law applies on a hillside lot with a house as it does elsewhere; see the ADUs and SB 9 page.

Tree Permits (Article VI, Division 10)

The tree division applies citywide. Its purpose is "to provide protection for the trees of this City that are of historic, aesthetic or environmental importance." Tree size is measured by caliper, which the code defines as the trunk diameter "measured at four-and-one-half (4.5) feet above the natural grade." For a tree with several trunks, the calipers are added together.

Sources: West Covina Municipal Code Sec. 26-258, 26-259 and 26-262 (Supplement 94).

• What needs a permit. Section 26-259 says no one "shall remove, relocate, or destroy any significant tree on private or public property" without a tree permit. "Removal" includes damaging roots with machinery, storing materials or compacting soil under the canopy, and paving around the trunk.
• Oaks. A permit is needed to "prune or trim more than twenty (20) percent of live foliage or limbs from any oak tree." No permit will be issued to remove an oak "greater than three (3) feet in caliper if the purpose of the removal is to change the landscape design or for a driveway approach."
• With a building project. No tree permit is issued on a lot that is part of a development application "unless all discretionary approvals have been obtained from the City." Where the project needs a hearing, the Planning Commission decides the tree permit at the same time. The 232-home Del Norte project approved in 2026 included a permit to remove one significant tree.
• How staff decide. Section 26-262 lists the tree's condition and nearness to an existing or proposed main building, whether denial "would create an unreasonable hardship on the property owner," the other trees in the area, and erosion and drainage.
• Conditions. A permit may require a replacement tree "of comparable species, size, and condition," relocation with a report from an arborist and "a five (5) year survival guarantee," or payment of the tree's value, which the code calls its restitution value.
• No permit needed. Emergency or routine trimming to protect utility lines, emergency removal of storm-damaged parts that are a hazard, and trees the City arborist finds in writing to be no longer viable.
• Time limit and fee. A removal permit is "valid for a period of ninety (90) days, subject to extension." The 2026 fee is $271.58 for the first tree on private property and $21.30 for each additional tree.
• Penalties. A violation is a misdemeanor "punishable by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or by imprisonment not to exceed six (6) months, or both," and "Each tree removed in violation of this division shall constitute a separate offense" (Section 26-264).

Fire Hazard Severity Zones

The State Fire Marshal maps fire hazard severity zones in three levels, Moderate, High and Very High, under Government Code 51178. Government Code 51179 says a local agency "shall designate, by ordinance, moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones in its jurisdiction within 120 days of receiving recommendations from the State Fire Marshal." The City's Fire Hazard Severity Zones page explains that the maps rate hazard from "fire history, existing and potential fuel (natural vegetation), predicted flame length, blowing embers, terrain, and typical fire weather for the area," and leave out measures such as home hardening and fuel reduction.

• The 2025 map. The staff report of July 1, 2025 says the state released the West Covina map on March 24, 2025. "In 2011, 1,136 acres were designated as Very High Hazard. Based on the updated 2025 maps, the revised classifications are as follows: 47 acres fall under Very High Hazard, 862 acres are classified as High Hazard, and 233 acres are designated as Moderate Hazard."
• The ordinance. Ordinance No. 2532 designates the zones "as recommended by the State Fire Marshal." The code's Supplement History Table dates it July 15, 2025 and marks it "Omit," because the ordinance says it "shall not be codified in the West Covina Municipal Code." The map is on the City's website.
• Building rules. Section 26-47(f) applies "to all properties within the FHSZ as designated by The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE)." All structures "shall utilize fire-resistant materials and design techniques in accordance with chapter 7A" of the California Building Code, and owners must keep up the vegetation and fuel management in Section 4907.3 of the California Fire Code. The section does not limit itself to the Very High level.
• SB 9. Sections 26-161 and 26-357 exclude a parcel in "A very high fire hazard severity zone" from urban dwelling units and urban lot splits. The exclusion "does not apply to sites excluded from the specified hazard zones by a local agency," or to "sites that have adopted fire hazard mitigation measures pursuant to existing building standards or state fire mitigation measures applicable to the development." The Very High zone covers 47 acres on the 2025 map, against 1,136 acres on the 2011 map, so the excluded area is smaller.
• Newer fire codes. City Council agendas of October 7 and October 21, 2025 listed an ordinance adopting the 2025 California Fire Code and the 2025 California Wildland-Urban Interface Code. That ordinance is later than Supplement 94, so ask the Fire Prevention Bureau which edition applies to your permit.

How to Check a Lot

• Look up the parcel on the City's GIS Data Hub for an H overlay.
• Open the fire hazard map linked from the City's Fire Hazard Severity Zones page and note the level, if any.
• Measure every front yard tree and every oak or sycamore at 4.5 feet above the ground, and note any black walnut.
• Ask the Planning Division, at 626-939-8422, to confirm the overlay and whether any tree on the lot is a named heritage tree.

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the West Covina overview, the property tax, fire zones and insurance page and the SB 9 page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)