Backyard & Outdoor Living in Ontario

City of Ontario Community Development, Building Department. Under the Development Code's residential standards, a pool, spa or pond 1.5 feet deep or more cannot be built in a front yard, must sit at least 3 feet from side and rear property lines and must be enclosed by a decorative nonclimbable fence or wall at least 5 feet high, while diving boards, slides, waterfalls and decorative rockscapes need at least 5 feet from side and rear lines. ADU applications go to the Building Department electronically through the city's Citizen Portal Access, and the city's ADU handout caps a detached unit at 850 square feet for a studio or one bedroom and 1,000 square feet for two or more, generally at 16 feet tall, with 4-foot side and rear setbacks and 6 feet of separation between detached structures. Exterior alterations to historic buildings, including homes in the city's eight designated historic districts, need a Certificate of Appropriateness reviewed by Planning staff, the Historic Preservation Subcommittee and the Historic Preservation Commission, or a Planning waiver for minor alterations. We prepare the drawings, make the submittal and handle plan-check corrections ourselves, so you are not the one chasing plan check.

Two eras share the city: the Chaffey brothers' original subdivision pattern, still intact around the historic downtown and Euclid Avenue, with early tracts such as College Park, subdivided into 48 lots in 1914, and Armsley Square, laid out in 1924, and Ontario Ranch to the south, where former dairy properties are being converted to master-planned neighborhoods. Development Code Table 6.01-1 sets the minimum traditional single-family lot at 18,000 square feet in the AR-2 district, 10,000 in RE-2 and RE-4, and 7,200 in LDR-5. One local condition that shapes the work: The Safety Element describes the alluvial sand beneath most of Ontario as very susceptible to erosion, with strong winds driving it onto property, and its policies require dust-control best management practices on all excavation and grading and prohibit excavation and grading during strong wind conditions as defined by the Building Code, which brings the wind forecast into any dig schedule.

All of it, including College Park, Armsley Square, Rosewood Court and El Morado Court. 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.