Burbank Hillside Development Permit: What Triggers It, What It Costs, and What a Buyer Should Check

In Burbank, any R-1 lot inside the mapped hillside area needs a Hillside Development Permit before the city will issue a grading or building permit for work that grades the lot, pushes past the view setback line, rises above 16 feet, or takes total floor area past 3,000 square feet. The permit is discretionary, it requires story poles and a view study, the application fee is $9,421.36 for fiscal year 2026-27, and neighbors within 300 feet are notified before the Community Development Director decides. The same streets sit in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, which adds a defensible space report to the sale paperwork.

Where exactly is the Burbank hillside area?

The boundary is written into the zoning code. Section 10-1-606(A) of the Burbank Municipal Code defines the hillside area as the land between the Glendale and Los Angeles city limits and a line running along Sunset Canyon Drive, Walnut Avenue, Bel Aire Drive, Cambridge Drive, Kenneth Road and Scott Road. Every R-1 lot on the mountain side of that line falls under the hillside standards, which override any conflicting flatland R-1 rule. The Rancho equestrian streets along Riverside Drive are not in it; they follow the R-1-H rules in the Rancho horsekeeping guide. The code text used here is current through Ordinance 26-4,038, passed February 24, 2026.

What triggers a Hillside Development Permit in Burbank?

Section 10-1-606(H) lists four triggers. A permit is required before grading or building permits are issued when any one of them applies:

1. The project creates a new building pad, cuts or fills to expand an existing pad, or involves any other grading, including grading for a pool, a structure or an expanded yard.
2. The structure extends beyond the front or rear view setback line described below.
3. The height of the proposed structure to the top of the roof exceeds 16 feet.
4. The total gross square footage counted toward the floor area ratio exceeds 3,000 square feet.

The same test applies to additions and remodels that "increase the square footage or height of an existing structure or otherwise alter the footprint, volume, mass, or dimensions." A second story on a one-story hillside house will almost always cross the 16-foot line. One carve-out is written in: grading for a pool or spa on a flat part of the lot with a slope under 5 percent is exempt. The city's application checklist uses a rear-yard pool plus 100 added square feet as its sample project.

How tall can a house be on a Burbank hillside lot?

Table 10-1-606(B) sets four height caps, and a design has to clear all of them at once. The primary building may rise 30 feet above natural grade. On a downslope lot it may rise only 18 feet above the edge of the street pavement. On an upslope lot it may rise 23 feet above the ground at the rear setback line. Within 25 feet of the front lot line, nothing may exceed 14 feet. Height is measured from finished or existing grade, whichever is lower, so cutting a pad does not buy height.

The flatland R-1 table in section 10-1-603 allows the same 30 feet to a pitched roof; the hillside table adds the street-edge and rear-line caps that flat lots never meet. Floor area follows the citywide Table 10-1-603(D), 0.40 of lot area up to 7,500 square feet and 0.30 above that, but section 10-1-606(C) lets the Director cut the allowed floor area as a permit condition when the findings cannot otherwise be made.

How does the view setback line work?

Under section 10-1-606(E), the city first decides which yard holds the primary view. A downslope view is always primary, even if the lot also looks uphill. An upslope view is primary only when there is no downslope view.

The setback line is then drawn from the nearest front or rear corner of the existing houses on the two adjacent lots, as shown in Diagram 10-1-606(E). Building past that line requires an approved permit, and the ordinary R-1 setback still applies where it is stricter. A main house may not sit entirely on the rear half of the lot without a permit either. In practice the neighbors' footprints set the envelope, so a buyer planning a rear addition should measure where the neighbors' rear walls stop first.

Ridgelines, retaining walls and parking

Section 10-1-606(D) keeps structures at least 100 feet below the centerline of a major ridge and 50 feet below a minor ridge, both measured vertically. Within 1,000 feet of a major ridge the house must keep a low profile that follows the natural grade.

Retaining walls in the front setback are limited to two, spaced at least 8 feet apart, and any front fence above 2 feet must be at least half open. Parking is heavier than on flat lots: section 10-1-606(G) requires four off-street spaces, two of them covered for houses up to 3,400 square feet and three covered above that. Driveway spaces count only where the driveway slope is 5 percent or less.

What does the permit cost and how long does it take?

The Planning Division's fee table lists the Hillside Development Permit at $9,421.36 under the fiscal year 2026-27 schedule that took effect July 1, 2026. For scale, a Variance is $6,499.26; the fee covers planning review only.

The package is a Universal Application, plan sets, an FAR diagram, a preliminary grading plan with cut and fill volumes, and site photographs. Soils and geology reports are required if any part of the site exceeds 20 percent slope. Then comes the part that surprises owners: section 10-1-607(D)(3)(e) requires a view study for every application, and the checklist specifies installed story poles photographed from neighboring properties. Massing models and photo simulations are not accepted.

Notice goes to owners and occupants within a 300-foot radius. The Director decides, and the checklist gives any person 15 days to appeal. The code names the Planning Commission as the appeal body; the April 2022 checklist still says Planning Board, its former name. The four findings in section 10-1-607(D)(3) cover access and traffic safety, consistency with the natural topography, avoidance of altered natural features, and no unnecessary encroachment on neighbors' views, uphill or downhill. The burden of proof rests on the applicant.

Fire zone paperwork a hillside seller owes the buyer

The Burbank hillside area overlaps the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone on the Office of the State Fire Marshal map, updated March 24, 2025. The Burbank Fire Department treats a parcel that straddles two zones as being in the higher one.

One number differs from the state baseline. Government Code 51182 requires 100 feet of defensible space and lets a local ordinance require more. Burbank requires 200 feet: full clearance in the first 100 feet and a fuel modification zone from 100 to 200 feet with native brush reduced by half. Letters go out in May, clearance is due by the end of June, inspections start in July.

At sale, Civil Code 1102.19 requires a seller in a high or very high zone to hand the buyer documentation of defensible space compliance obtained in the six months before the contract, or to sign a written agreement under which the buyer obtains it. Burbank's AB 38 page says an inspector makes contact within 2 to 3 business days and that inspections take 7 to 10 days. The annual brush clearance report can stand in for the AB 38 report if it is dated within six months of the contract. The page headline says "within one year of escrow" while its own FAQ and the statute say six months; the statute governs. The same zone appears on the first page of the Natural Hazard Disclosure report.

Checklist before writing an offer on a Burbank hillside house

Question	Where the answer lives
Is the lot inside the 10-1-606(A) boundary?	Diagram 10-1-606(A), Planning Division
Was the last addition permitted with an HDP?	Planning case file, city permit portal
Where are the neighbors' front and rear corners?	Site survey; they set the view setback line
Is any part of the site over 20 percent slope?	Topographic survey; triggers soils reports
How many covered parking spaces exist?	Two under 3,400 sq ft, three above
Is the parcel in the Very High zone?	CAL FIRE address lookup
Is the defensible space report within six months of contract?	Seller; Civil Code 1102.19
Does the budget carry the $9,421.36 fee and story poles?	Fee table, FY 2026-27

Q: Does a one-story remodel that stays under 16 feet need a permit?

Not on height alone. It still needs one if it grades the lot, crosses the view setback line, or pushes total floor area past 3,000 square feet. Interior work that leaves footprint, height and volume unchanged falls outside section 10-1-606(H).

Q: How does Burbank compare with Glendale and Los Angeles hillsides?

Glendale caps house size by floor area district and a 40 percent slope line, in the Glendale R1R guide. Los Angeles uses slope bands, in the Encino hillside guide. Burbank keeps the flatland FAR table and controls height, views and grading through the permit instead.

This article is general information drawn from the Burbank Municipal Code and City of Burbank publications, not legal, engineering or land use advice. Fees, forms and code sections change, and a parcel can carry overlays not discussed here. Confirm your lot with the Burbank Planning Division before relying on any figure. Call Alla at (818) 699-5367 or use the enquiry form.

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Looking at homes in the Burbank hills? Start with the Burbank area guide and the seller's page for what a hillside listing needs before it goes live.