Journal ·
Encino Hillside Construction Rules: What Actually Limits a Build
On an Encino hillside lot the buildable size is set by the slope of the ground, not by the lot area. The city measures your parcel in six slope bands, assigns each band its own floor area ratio, and adds the results. Land steeper than 100 percent contributes zero. Two separate city maps decide whether any of this applies to you, and they do not have the same boundaries.
Is your Encino lot in a Hillside Area?
That is a yes or no field, not a judgement about how steep the street looks. Los Angeles Municipal Code section 12.03 defines Hillside Area as "any land designated as Hillside Area as shown in the shaded portion of the Department of City Planning Hillside Area Map, dated September 23, 2009," and records that the definition was amended by Ordinance No. 181,128, effective 5/3/10.
Look it up at ZIMAS, the city's zoning information map. Enter the address, open the Planning and Zoning Information tab, and read the field labelled "Hillside Area (Zoning Code)."
Why does ZIMAS show two different hillside fields?
Because two departments drew two maps for two purposes. The Planning and Zoning tab carries "Hillside Area (Zoning Code)," and that is the field that triggers the hillside development standards. A separate field, "Special Grading Area (BOE Basic Grid Map A-13372)," sits further down on the Additional Information tab and comes from the Bureau of Engineering.
They are not the same designation and they do not share boundaries. A parcel can read one way on the first and another way on the second. This is the most common Encino hillside mistake, and it is easy to make because both fields contain the word that everyone is scanning for. Check the Planning and Zoning tab specifically.
How do slope bands set the maximum floor area?
By addition, not by a single ratio. The Baseline Hillside Ordinance, Ordinance No. 181,624, effective May 9, 2011, added subdivision 10 to LAMC 12.21 C. It was amended by Ordinance No. 184,802, effective 3/17/17, which is the version in force.
The amended text sets the method: maximum residential floor area "shall not exceed the sum of the square footage of each Slope Band multiplied by the corresponding Residential Floor Area Ratio (RFAR) for the zone of the Lot." A licensed surveyor or registered civil engineer prepares a slope analysis map to establish how many square feet of your lot sit in each band.
| Slope band | R1 | RS | RE15 | RA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 to 14.99% | 0.45 | 0.45 | 0.35 | 0.25 |
| 15 to 29.99% | 0.45 | 0.40 | 0.30 | 0.20 |
| 30 to 44.99% | 0.40 | 0.35 | 0.25 | 0.15 |
| 45 to 59.99% | 0.35 | 0.30 | 0.20 | 0.10 |
| 60 to 99.99% | 0.30 | 0.25 | 0.15 | 0.05 |
| 100% and over | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
Four of the eight zones are shown here; the full table is Table 12.21 C.10-2a in the ordinance. The bottom row is the line that changes purchase decisions. A lot that is half cliff is, for floor area purposes, half a lot.
When can you skip the slope analysis?
When you accept the guaranteed minimum instead. Subdivision (b)(2) allows a floor area of at least a set percentage of lot size, or 800 square feet, whichever is greater, in place of the slope band calculation. The percentages run 25 percent in R1 and 13 percent in RA, with the other zones between.
On a modest, steep lot the guaranteed minimum often beats the slope band result and costs nothing to survey. On a large gently sloping lot the slope band calculation wins by a wide margin. Run both before paying an engineer.
How much grading is allowed by right?
Less than the formula suggests, and in R1 the formula is a trap. Subdivision (f)(1) states the allowance as "a base maximum of 1,000 cubic yards plus the numeric value equal to 10% of the total Lot size in cubic yards," and works an example: a 5,000 square foot lot reaching 1,500 cubic yards.
Then Table 12.21 C.10-6 caps the by-right quantity by zone, and the R1 cap is 1,000 cubic yards flat. The 10 percent adder is therefore unusable in R1. The caps rise with zone: 2,200 in RS, 3,200 in RE15, 3,600 in RA, 6,600 in RE40. Import and export on a substandard hillside street is limited further, to 75 percent of the table figure.
A separate threshold catches people much earlier. Under LAMC 91.7006.5.1, a bond is required before a permit issues for excavation or fill of 250 cubic yards or more in a hillside area.
When does a haul route go to a public hearing?
Above 1,000 cubic yards of import or export. LAMC 91.7006.7.5 provides that "no permit requiring the import or export of more than 1,000 cubic yards shall be issued for areas designated hillside except as specified in this section," and routes the application to a public hearing before the Board of Building and Safety Commissioners, with written notice to owners within 300 feet. The board's decision takes effect after ten calendar days, and any affected person may appeal to the City Council within ten days.
Note the interaction with the R1 cap above. An R1 lot on a substandard street is limited to 750 cubic yards of import and export, below the haul route threshold, so it cannot reach a hearing by right at all. That project needs discretionary relief first.
Import and export hours are fixed by the same subdivision at 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
What does the Mulholland Specific Plan add on top?
A second, stricter layer over part of Encino. The Mulholland Scenic Parkway Specific Plan, Ordinance No. 167,943 (1992), lists Encino-Tarzana among its community plan areas and names Encino Hills Drive and Corda Drive in its text. It divides the corridor into an Inner Corridor, 500 feet out from the right-of-way, and an Outer Corridor, out to half a mile.
Its section 3 B states that where the plan is more restrictive than the zoning code, "the Specific Plan shall prevail and supersede." Two consequences follow for an Encino lot inside the corridor. Grading is measured on a different basis, one cubic yard per four square feet of lot area in the Inner Corridor, and only for lots visible from Mulholland Drive. And new construction requires review by the Director acting on a recommendation of the Design Review Board.
Ridgeline building is restricted separately: structures visible from Mulholland Drive may not be built on top of a prominent ridge, nor within 50 vertical feet of one, without the Director's prior written approval.
Which fire hazard map applies to an Encino parcel?
Two of them, and they currently disagree. LAFD's own fire zone history lists Encino among the communities containing Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone land. The city's codified boundary still refers to the map adopted by Ordinance 181,719, effective 6/26/11.
CAL FIRE transmitted new Local Responsibility Area recommendations to Los Angeles on March 24, 2025, and those maps added Moderate and High classes that the city map does not carry. A parcel can therefore show nothing on ZIMAS and show High on the state viewer. Check both: ZIMAS for the adopted city zone, and the Office of the State Fire Marshal viewer for the 2025 recommendation.
One citation trap is worth naming, because it appears in a great deal of published material. Public Resources Code 4291, the well known 100 foot defensible space statute, applies by its own terms to "the state responsibility area." Encino is not in one. The operative state statute for a city parcel is Government Code section 51182, which imposes the same 100 feet inside a locally designated very high zone. At sale, Civil Code section 1102.19 requires documentation of compliance, or a written agreement under which the buyer obtains it within one year of close of escrow. What that sits alongside is set out in the natural hazard disclosure explainer.
Q: Does the Baseline Hillside Ordinance apply to every hillside lot?
No. LAMC 12.21 C.10 applies to lots zoned R1, RS, RE or RA. Hillside lots in the A1, A2 or RD zones fall under LAMC 12.21 A.17 instead, which has no slope band floor area table.
Q: Who prepares the slope analysis map?
A registered civil engineer or licensed land surveyor, stamped and signed, at a scale of not less than one inch to 100 feet with contour intervals of not more than 10 feet.
Q: Is remedial grading counted against the by-right limit?
Remedial grading as defined in LAMC 12.03 is among the listed exemptions, along with deepened foundation systems, required stormwater retention, and up to 500 cubic yards for a driveway to required parking or a fire department turnaround.
Q: How much brush clearance does LAFD require?
LAFD publishes 200 feet for property in the very high zone, while the codified distance in the fire code section on vegetation is 100 feet. Clear to what the inspector enforces, and treat the 200 as the working number.
Q: Does a hillside designation affect what a seller must disclose?
It affects the retrofit and clearance documentation more than the disclosure forms. What a Los Angeles seller has to complete before closing is set out in retrofits required to sell a house in Los Angeles.
This article is general information about the Los Angeles Municipal Code and city mapping tools, not legal, engineering or land use advice. Ordinance numbers and map boundaries change. Confirm your own parcel on ZIMAS and with the Department of Building and Safety before relying on any figure here. Call Alla at (818) 699-5367 or use the enquiry form.
More on the neighbourhood and its jurisdiction in the Encino area guide.