Downtown Single-Family Dwellings In-Fill Lots Procedure

New Streamlined Procedure Reduces Costs & Time for Development

The City of Lake Elsinore in collaboration with the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District (EVMWD) is working together to streamline the permitting process for Single-Family Residential Dwelling Units, particularly in Historic Downtown Lake Elsinore.

In 2019, amendments were made to Title 17 of the Municipal Code exempting Single-Family Dwellings on existing lots from the Minor Design Review Process. As a result, Single-Family in-fill projects are no longer subject to additional discretionary review. Rather, these projects are now reviewed only by city staff to ensure Zoning Code consistency and are subject to the permit plan check.

These amendments allowed the City to streamline the development process for in-fill single-family dwelling units by reducing processing times by up to four months and eliminating the cost of a Minor Design Review, which is a savings of $4,523.

In addition, EVMWD revised its Sewer Lateral Application. The new and improved application does away with EVMWD's Material Review Process and allows the selection of pre-approved materials in lieu of Material Submissions expediting the process by up to 2 months.

New Building Permit Process for Single-Family Dwelling Package

The City and EVWMD have created a new "Building Permit Process for Single-Family Dwellings" package to assist customers in better understanding the permitting process. This guidance document summarizes the steps needed to move forward on a project and provides customers with easily accessible information.

The new Single-Family Dwellings (SFD) Package (PDF) also helps to reduce the processing time by clearly identifying the following:

  1. Responsible agencies and departments at each step of development
  2. Required applications and permit types for the City and EVMWD
  3. Applicable City and EVMWD fees
  4. A step-by-step process from the initial Due-Diligence process to receiving an Occupancy Permit
  5. New Sewer Lateral Application (PDF).

The City and EVMWD aim to work together to find more ways, in the future, to reduce costs and save time in the development process.