Backyard & Outdoor Living in Monrovia

City of Monrovia Community Development Department, Building Division. Building permits, plan check and inspections run through the Building Division of the Community Development Department. In the Residential Foothill, Residential Estate and Residential Low-Density zones, a Hillside Development Permit is also required for a new house, or for earth movement with a footprint over 500 square feet, whenever the work involves five feet or more of cut or fill or a retaining wall six feet or taller, with swimming pools and basements excluded. New homes and two-story additions that are not already under a Hillside Development Permit go through neighborhood compatibility design review before the Development Review Committee, while single-story second units and single-story accessory structures in side or rear yards are exempt. Alterations to a designated landmark or a contributing property in the Wild Rose Tract or North Encinitas historic districts need a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Historic Preservation Commission, which must hold its public meeting no later than 50 days after a completed application is received. We prepare the drawings, make the submittal and handle plan-check corrections ourselves, so you are not the one chasing plan check.

Minimum lot size follows the zone: 7,500 square feet in Residential Low-Density, 20,000 in Residential Estate, and 15,000 in Residential Foothill, where lots in a development must also average more than an acre. On every residential lot a pool stays out of the front yard and at least five feet from the side and rear property lines. One local condition that shapes the work: In the Residential Foothill zone, where a pad sits beside a slope of three feet or more, structures must be set back from the side and rear pad edge by one third of the slope height, up to 15 feet for the single-story portion, and a second story sits a full 15 feet back. A retaining wall that extends the pad is limited to three feet unless a house, garage or other permitted structure screens it from the street and neighboring parcels.

All of it, including Old Town, Wild Rose Tract and North Encinitas. Our crews run every job out of our Cahuenga Pass base in Los Angeles, with our own people on site.

Full backyard transformation: generally $50,000 to $250,000+ across Southern California. What moves it is how much hardscape is involved, whether a pool or outdoor kitchen is included, grading and retaining, and the level of lighting and planting. We give line-item pricing after seeing the site rather than quoting a number over the phone.

A patio and turf refresh often finishes in three to five weeks. A full transformation with hardscape, an outdoor kitchen, structures and lighting typically runs ten to sixteen weeks, and longer if a pool is part of the same phase.

Pavers cost more up front but flex with ground movement instead of cracking, and individual units can be lifted and replaced. Poured concrete is cheaper initially, but a crack means cutting out and repouring a section that rarely matches. On most Southern California soil we recommend pavers for anything you will look at every day.

Yes, and on most projects we insist on it. Correcting grade and adding proper drainage while the yard is already open is far cheaper than retrofitting it after new hardscape is down.

Yes. Design, permits, hardscape, structures, kitchen, lighting and planting run through one team and one project manager, so nothing gets lost between trades.