Luxury Remodeling in Chino Hills
Design-build pools, outdoor living and ADUs planned around Chino Hills fire overlay, slope and native tree rules.
Building in Chino Hills
Pools, backyards and ADUs for Chino Hills hillside and canyon lots.
Chino Hills was planned before it was a city: in 1979 San Bernardino County began the Chino Hills Specific Plan for 18,000 acres, the first in California designed for an unincorporated area, and it called for homes clustered in village cores so that as much open space as possible stayed open. A few places are older than the plan, among them Sleepy Hollow, a weekend getaway from Los Angeles in the 1920s with about 90 cabins by 1928, and Los Serranos, whose golf and country club opened in 1925. The grassroots group Hills for Everyone led the preservation of 14,102 acres that became Chino Hills State Park, and the Development Code still keeps the city's mapped prominent ridgelines undeveloped. For a pool, a terrace or an ADU, the fire overlay, the slope, protected native trees and any mapped fault, landslide or drainage course shape the plan before style does.
Lots in Planned Development districts, Butterfield Ranch among them, follow the PD documents adopted for each project, while the base single-family R-S zone sets a 7,200 square foot minimum lot, Rural Residential 20,000 square feet and Agriculture-Ranch five acres, with larger minimums shown on the Zoning Map where terrain calls for them. The English Road area, designated Agriculture Ranch in the General Plan as large-lot land suitable for equestrian estates, sits in the Level 1 equestrian overlay, where horses and other large animals may be kept as an accessory use to the home.
One team designs, permits and builds every project, and our own crews self-perform the work, so the people who plan your Chino Hills project are the people on site building it.
Part of our service area in San Bernardino County.
Local Conditions
What building in Chino Hills involves
Permits in Chino Hills
City of Chino Hills Community Development Department, Building & Safety Division
Room addition and remodel plans start with the Building and Safety Division of the Community Development Department; once a submittal is complete it routes to both Building and Safety and Planning, a separate submittal goes to the Chino Valley Fire District, and the city puts plan review at generally 15 business days, longer for larger projects. On residentially zoned lots a pool or spa may not sit in the front setback and must stay at least five feet from rear and side property lines, measured from the water's edge for an in-ground pool, while mechanical equipment needs three feet and must be screened where visible from a right-of-way. New construction, ADUs included, and additions that enlarge a structure by 50 percent or more must keep ten feet of exterior wall separation from other structures unless built entirely of noncombustible materials, and must fit ember screens on attic vents and evaporative coolers. Inside the Fire Hazard Overlay District the same work must also meet Section 7A of the Building Code and keep thirty feet, clear to the sky, from structures on adjoining lots unless the Chino Valley Fire District and the Community Development Director approve an equivalent alternative.
Permit details checked September 2026 against Chino Hills Municipal Code. Rules change, so we confirm them again for your parcel.
What we plan for here
- Fire Hazard Overlay and Section 7A detailing
- Native tree permits before grading
- Geologic hazard overlay studies
- Hillside adaptive design near Carbon Canyon Road
CAL FIRE's local responsibility area map dated March 24, 2025 places much of the city's canyon and hillside terrain, Carbon Canyon included, in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, while parts of the north end map as nonwildland, so the zone is checked parcel by parcel.
On developed lots inside the Fire Hazard Overlay, native California sycamores, live oaks, black walnuts and coastal scrub oaks four inches or more in diameter at breast height need a tree permit before any grading or building permit issues, unless they cannot be seen from streets, rights-of-way, parks or trails.
The Geologic Hazard Overlay covers the Chino Hills fault hazard zone and known or suspected landslide and liquefaction areas, where development permits require a study by a registered geologist scoped by the Building Official, although uses accessory to a home and additions of no more than half the existing structure's value or area are exempt.
Within 600 feet of the Carbon Canyon Road centerline, the code's hillside adaptive standards require buildings to follow the natural topography, bar terracing for flat pads where the natural slope exceeds 15 percent and limit retaining walls built for side and rear yard space to 36 inches above grade, though modifications to existing structures can be exempt with city approval.
Tract 2557 in Los Serranos lies within a natural drainage course and about half of it is subject to inundation during storms, so finished floors must sit at least one foot above the street's finished centerline on lots west of or adjacent to Carmelita Avenue and one and a half feet on lots east of or adjacent to Monterey Avenue.
Neighborhoods we work in
- Los Serranos
- Sleepy Hollow
- Carbon Canyon
- Butterfield Ranch
- Vellano
- Hunters Hill
Chino Hills Services
Everything we build in Chino Hills
Each page covers permits, costs and the build process for that work in Chino Hills.
Pool & Spa Remodeling in Chino Hills
We design and build pools and spas with our own crews, start to finish.
Backyard & Outdoor Living in Chino Hills
Outdoor living, hardscape, and curb appeal, designed and built to outlast the SoCal sun.
ADUs & Additions in Chino Hills
We design, permit, and build ADUs and additions that actually add value.
Also available in Chino Hills
Chino Hills Guides
Remodeling guides for Chino Hills
Local planning notes, costs and design direction for Chino Hills homeowners.
Whole-Home Remodel Sequencing: What to Do First
A whole-home remodel done in the wrong order costs 15 to 25 percent more. Here is the correct sequence, from structural and roof through to paint, and why each stage has to precede the next.
Read guideIndoor-Outdoor Living Conversions in Southern California
A 16-foot multi-slide door runs $18,000 to $45,000 installed. Here is how the full indoor-outdoor conversion works, from structural header to flush threshold to covered patio tie-in.
Read guideTarzana Outdoor Living: A Builder's Guide to South of the Boulevard Lots
Tarzana backyards run hot and deep. A working outdoor living build here (shade, hardscape, kitchen, lighting) typically lands between $85,000 and $220,000, and the ground drives most of the number.
Read guidePorter Ranch Backyard Transformation: Wind, Slope and What It Costs
A full backyard transformation in Porter Ranch runs $95,000 to $280,000. Wind exposure, slope, HOA review and fire-zone material rules shape the design before anything about style enters the conversation.
Read guideStart Your Project
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