Building/Planning Department

Building Counter Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 8-11 AM

Deputy Building Official, Bill Tarin
Associate Planner, Jason Carson
17855 Santiago Boulevard
Villa Park, California 92861
Phone: (714) 998 - 1500
Fax: (714) 998 - 1508

Building Department

The Building Official has a wide range of responsibilities including calculating and collecting permit and development fees, issuing permits,conducting inspections of projects under construction to verify compliance with Building, Plumbing, and Electrical Codes, and confirming that projects are being built according to the approved plans. The Building Official is also responsible for issuing Stop Work notices for any construction project being worked on without the appropriate City permits.

Planning Department

The Planning Department oversees residential and commercial development within the City limits. The Associate Planner administers the City's comprehensive planning and zoning and subdivision ordinances under the direction of the City Manager as Planning Director. The Associate Planner reviews all site plans for residential and commercial development. The City Council serves as the City's planning commission and reviews and approves conditional use permits, variances, and minor partitions.

R1 Zoning Extract • E4 Zoning Extract

Residential Development Guidelines • Design Review Guidelines • Property Maintenance Ordinance

Code Enforcement

The Code Enforcement Officer has with a wide range of responsibilities including interaction with the public over the counter, site visits, and property owner interaction. Code Enforcement activity is complaint-based and encompasses broad issues such as inoperable vehicles, poor property maintenance, debris accumulation, inappropriate storage of vehicles or materials, correction of the City's Municipal Code Violations, and land use requirements. Anonymous complaints may be reported by calling (714) 998-1500.

Code Violation / Graffiti Complaint Form

Conditional Use and Variance Permits

The Villa Park Municipal Code allows for Conditional Use Permits and, with great exception, Variances, if approved by the Council.   Conditional Use Permits are discretionary permits that are granted by the City Council for a use that is allowed under the VPMC, but a CUP is required in order to ensure that the use conforms to the neighborhood setting.  For example, the VPMC requires a CUP for any garage space over and above three (3) garage spaces.  The City Council may condition an additional garage space to conform best to the neighborhood setting.  Additionally, any roof height between 25’ and 32’ must have a Conditional Use Permit.  This discretionary process allows the City Council to review privacy, view and other issues that may occur with the development of a roof height above 25’.    CUPs can only be granted if they meet the following three (3) findings:

1)   The project is in accord with the objectives of the Villa Park Zoning Code and the purpose of the Zone in which it is located.
2)  The project is not detrimental to the public health, safety, or welfare, or materially injurious to properties or improvements in the vicinity.
3)   With approval of the Conditional Use Permit application by the City Council, the project complies with all applicable provisions of the Zoning Code.

The Findings for a Conditional Use Permit will be consistent with the above but specific to the actual application.

A Variance from the terms of the zoning chapter shall be granted only when, because of special circumstances applicable to the property, including size, shape, topography, location or surroundings, the strict application of the zoning chapter deprives such property of privileges enjoyed by other property in the vicinity and under identical zoning classification. 

A Variance Permit, by definition, has a greater need to be proved and is therefore much harder to obtain.  Variances should be avoided at all costs and City Staff will work with an applicant to avoid requiring a variance in order to develop a property.   Variances can only be granted if they meet the following five (5) findings:

1)   That strict or literal interpretation and enforcement of the specified regulation would result in practical difficulty or unnecessary physical hardship inconsistent with the objectives of this chapter.
2)   That there are exceptional or extraordinary circumstances or conditions applicable to the property involved or to the intended use of the property that do not apply generally to other properties in the same zone.
3)   That strict or literal interpretation and enforcement of the specified regulation would deprive the applicant of privileges enjoyed by the owners of other properties in the same zone.
4)   That the granting of the variance will not constitute the granting of a special privilege inconsistent with the limitations on other properties classified in the same zone.
5)   That the granting of the variance will not be detrimental to the public health, safety, or welfare, or materially injurious to properties or improvements in the vicinity.

The Findings for a Variance Permit will be consistent with the above but specific to the actual application.

Information
 

 
17855 Santiago Boulevard • Villa Park, CA 92861 • (714) 998-1500 • Fax (714) 998-1508
Terms and Conditions