Environmental Rules in Fresno County, CA (2026)
6 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 3 cities in Fresno County, California.
Verified from official government sources
Stormwater Management
Fresno County Code Chapter 17.64 requires anyone developing or dividing land in the unincorporated county to pay a local drainage fee before a map records or a development permit issues, funding the storm drainage facilities the county needs to control surface and storm water. The Fresno Metropolitan Flood Control District administers the fees; the Board of Supervisors adjusts the fee schedule every March 1st using the national construction cost index.
Fresno County Local Drainage Fee Requirements
Some RestrictionsFresno County Code § 17.64.010
The board of supervisors declares and finds that the development of land for urban uses substantially accelerates the concentration of surface and storm waters, and that it is necessary to require the construction of and to establish and collect fees to defray the actual or estimated cost of constructing planned local drainage facilities for the control and safe disposal of surface and storm wa...
Erosion Control
Fresno County requires every grading permit to complete erosion-control measures before the county will approve final inspection. Chapter 15.28 adopts the California Building Code's Appendix J grading standards, amended locally so that drainage facilities, protective devices and erosion control must all be finished and verified before the Grading Official closes out the permit.
Fresno County Grading Erosion Control Rules
Some RestrictionsFresno County Code § 15.28.020(U) (amending CBC Appendix J § 101)
The permittee shall notify the Grading Official when the grading operation is ready for Final Inspection. Final approval shall not be given until all work, including installation of all drainage facilities and their protective devices, and all erosion-control measures have been completed in accordance with the final approved Grading Plan, and the required reports have been submitted. If an o...
Coastal Development
The California Coastal Act does not apply in Fresno County. Fresno County is inland in the San Joaquin Valley with no Pacific coastline, and no portion of the county falls within the Coastal Zone or California Coastal Commission jurisdiction.
environmental/coastal-development
Some RestrictionsCal. Pub. Res. Code § 30103 / Coastal Act of 1976 — Coastal Zone Boundary
Public Resources Code (PRC) Section 30103(a) specifically defines California's Coastal Zone as that land and water area of the State of California from the Oregon border to the border of the Republic of Mexico depicted on maps identified and set forth in Section 17 of that chapter of the Statutes of the 1975-76 Regular Session enacting PRC Division 20 (the Coastal Act of 1976). PRC Section 3010...
Flood Zones
Fresno County requires a development permit before any construction, fill, grading or manufactured home placement within a mapped area of special flood hazard. Chapter 15.48 implements the county's Flood Insurance Study and Flood Insurance Rate Maps, and violating the permit requirement is a misdemeanor under the county's floodplain management ordinance.
Fresno County Floodplain Development Permit
Some RestrictionsFresno County Code §§ 15.48.060(C), 15.48.070(C)
A development permit shall be obtained before any construction or other development, including manufactured homes, within any area of special flood hazard established in Section 15.48.060.B. Application for a development permit shall be made on forms furnished by the County of Fresno. ... No structure or land shall hereafter be constructed, located, extended, converted, or altered without full ...
Defensible Space
Fresno County requires owners of specific parcels along the San Joaquin River bluffs between Highways 99 and 41 to maintain a 30-foot firebreak around every inhabited dwelling from April 15 through September 30 each year, treating failure to do so as a public nuisance under County Code § 8.80.030.
Fresno County San Joaquin Bluffs Defensible Space
Significant RestrictionsFresno County Code § 8.80.030
Any person, corporation or other entity owning, leasing, occupying or directly controlling or having charge of any property subject to this article shall comply with the following standards for maintaining defensible space with respect to the area surrounding any inhabited dwellings and structures from April 15 through September 30 of each year as follows: A.Maintain a firebreak by removing and...
Flood Elevation Requirements
New construction and substantial improvements in a Fresno County flood hazard area have to elevate the lowest floor at least twelve inches above the base flood elevation. Chapter 15.48 defines base flood elevation from FEMA's Flood Insurance Rate Maps and layers the county's own twelve-inch freeboard margin on top of the mapped 100-year flood level.
Fresno County Flood Elevation Freeboard Rule
Some RestrictionsFresno County Code §§ 15.48.050(G), 15.48.080(A)(3)(a)
"Base flood elevation" (BFE) means the elevation shown on the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) for Zones AE, AH, and A1-30 that indicates the water surface elevation resulting from a flood that has a one percent (1%) or greater chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. ... All new construction or substantial improvements of any structure shall have the lowest floor, including baseme...
Environmental Rules by City in Fresno County
3 cities in Fresno County have their own environmental rules rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
All Fresno County ordinances
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