Costa Mesa, CA Building Safety: Lead Paint (2026)

Sec. 3 governs development standards for new residential small lot subdivisions of 15 lots or fewer in multi-family zones. Subsection (c)(2) requires that, prior to entering into a sales agreement for any property within a small lot subdivision, the developer disclose general information regarding the property to future homebuyers, including a list of 14 specific items. ),' placed alongside disclosures of insulation type and R-value (item a), nearby non-residential uses (item c), unusual adjacent zoning (item d), proximity to an airport within two miles (item e), soils and fill conditions exceeding two feet (items f and h), servicing schools (item i), flooding conditions (item j), city conditions of approval and resale restrictions (item k), easements (item l), phasing plans (item m), and CC&Rs (item n).

This disclosure duty is narrower than a citywide lead-paint ordinance: it attaches only to small lot subdivision sales, not to resales of existing housing generally, which remain governed by state and federal disclosure law. The planning division reviews project approval documents under Sec. 3(c)(1), and a homeowners' or maintenance association covenant must be recorded under Sec. 3(c)(3) before any unit sells, giving the city a mechanism, through project approval conditions, to confirm the disclosure obligation was built into the transaction documents before lots change hands.