Imagine if your neighbor's house was for sale and the owner of a fast food restaurant purchased the property. You might say, "So what? As long she's a good neighbor it's fine with me." However, what if the new owner plans to knock down the home and build a 24-hour drive through eatery in its place. Would that affect your quality of life? You bet! Think of the impact the noise, traffic congestion, and fried food smell would have on your neighborhood.
The primary purpose of zoning is to separate uses that may be incompatible such as residential and heavy industrial uses. Cities use zoning ordinances to classify and minimize potential conflicts between uses. But you might ask, "Who decides that?" In Monrovia, it is the collaborative effort of: residents, City Council, Planning Commission, Development Review Committee (DRC), and staff.
Land use zoning is traditionally divided into four basic categories: residential, commercial, industrial, and open space/agricultural. However, the total number and definition of zoning districts can vary from one municipality to another based on need and preference. Cities outline their land use requirements in two documents: the zoning map and the zoning ordinance. Thezoning mapidentifies every property within the City and divides areas into zoning districts or "zones". The zoning ordinance, located the City's Municipal Code, establishes the rules for development within each zone.
If you have any questions regarding zoning, please don't hesitate to contact the Planning Division. Supplemental information can be found in the "Document Library" sidebar.
"What's Current With Community Development?" is a summary of news and events that relate to the Community Development Department and its Divisions. Content is updated twice a month.
Quick Reference Information
The Planning Division is responsible for applicants through the landscape regulation process.
Call
(626) 932-5565
In person
Monrovia City Hall 415 South Ivy Ave. Monrovia, CA 91016
Despite how much we try to change it, the Los Angeles basin is a desert. The water thirsty lawns and plants that we plant don't change the arid nature of our local climate. In California, about half of the urban water used is for landscape irrigation. That's a considerable amount of water.
In 2006, Assembly Bill 1881 was signed into law amending the Water Conservation in Landscape Act. This legislation required that the state update the original Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance which then must be incorporated into local regulations.
Pursuant to the provisions of AB 1881, the updated Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance is applicable within the City of Monrovia and generally applies to newly installed landscape projects over 2,500 square feet in area (5,000 SF for owner-installed/provided residential properties). These provisions supersede the City's existing water efficient regulations (MMC §17.24.030).
The City of Monrovia uses a self-certification process that will streamline the permitting process and reduce costs for applicants. The self-certification includes two steps:
Water Efficient Landscape Application - is the licensed landscape professional's statement that the proposed design and documentation package complies with state regulations.
Landscape Certificate of Completion - is the licensed landscape professional's statement that the installation (landscape and irrigation) is in substantial compliance with the approved Certificate of Design.
Mission
The Community Development Department is dedicated to serving the community, protecting the quality of life, preserving property values, and improving the built and natural environment.
Welcome to the Community Development Department!
The Community Development Department is comprised of three Divisions whose responsibilities range from issuing building permits and business licenses to code enforcement, design review, zoning administration, implementation of the MAP (Monrovia Area Partnership) program and historic preservation. The three Divisions are as follows:
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In Person
Community Development Department
Monrovia City Hall
415 South Ivy Ave.
Monrovia, CA 91016
Each Division provides an essential service to the community and the intent of the website is to provide easy access to all of the information that is available to you. I would also encourage you to subscribe to the Community Development Department's"Over the Counter" Blog,which is an entertaining way to keep in the loop on developments and other fun information related to Monrovia's built environment. With that said, we are just as happy to discuss your projects, questions and concerns at the Community Development Department counter or over the phone. Feel free to contact any of our staff if you have any questions or need additional information.
The City of Monrovia is a great place to live, work and play and our staff is committed to seeing that it remains this way. We pride ourselves on excellent customer service and we desire your complete satisfaction.To assist in this goal, we are in the process of developing various methods to communicate with you. This includes a customer survey. Your feedback will enable us to better advise, guide, and assist you.
As technology continues to play a more important part in the way we communicate and do business, I anticipate that our Department's website will continue to evolve over time providing even more information to you, our customer.
I hope that your experience with us is a good one.
Steve Sizemore
Director of Community Development
Quick Reference Information
Wireless telecommunication facility permitting is overseen by the City of Monrovia’s Planning Division
Call
(626) 932-5565
In person
Planning Division Monrovia City Hall 415 South Ivy Ave. Monrovia CA 91016
In a series of popular television commercials for a major cell phone provider, a fictional employee travels across America asking someone on the other end of his phone, “Can you hear me now?”After receiving confirmation, he states, “Good.” The purpose of this commercial is to emphasize the importance of having stable wireless signal coverage wherever you live, work, and travel.But how is reliable coverage achieved? A large part of the answer is found at the local level, and that’s why cities are involved.However, the federal government’s Telecommunications Act places limitations on local authority in regard to zoning and land use decisions for wireless service facilities, called base stations.
Wireless carriers use antennae located on base stations to send and receive information (i.e., voice, text, and data).In addition to relaying information, base stations automatically search for the strongest signal closest to the caller as he/she moves around town.As a result, it’s important to have adequate base stations placed around your community to reduce the likelihood of weak signals, dropped calls, and “dead zones.”
Base stations are heavily regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).A primary reason is because they emit radio frequency (RF) energy, which is the same type of power used to broadcast radio and television signals.Since the antennas for transmitting wireless communication are typically located outdoors on towers and other elevated structures like rooftops or sides of buildings, ground-level RF readings are well below the exposure limits recommended by the FCC.
Well, that’s probably more information about wireless signal coverage than you were looking for, however, as the late, great radio broadcaster Paul Harvey used to say, “Now you know the rest of the story.”
Community Development
