Temecula, CA Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Density Bonus Law (2026)

050(P) of the Temecula Development Code sets the procedure and cap for density bonus requests. An applicant files with the planning director on an approved form, concurrently with the required development plan review or administrative approval application, and pays a density bonus application fee set by resolution of the city council. Staff processes the density bonus request in the same review track as the underlying development application rather than as a separate track. The applicant must submit documentation establishing eligibility for the requested bonus, incentives, concessions, or waivers of development standards.

For a qualifying housing development, the city grants the bonus in the amount specified by Government Code Section 65915, and except where that state statute requires otherwise, the local cap on the bonus is 35 percent above the maximum allowable residential density set by the zoning ordinance or, if inconsistent, by the general plan land use element (the general plan controls when the two conflict). An applicant may also request a waiver or reduction of a development standard that would physically preclude building the bonus units; the city must grant it unless the standard does not actually preclude construction, causes a specific adverse health, safety, or environmental impact with no feasible mitigation, harms a California Register of Historical Resources property, or would violate state or federal law.

Parking reductions follow Government Code Section 65915(p). Before a building permit issues, the developer must record a covenant ensuring continued affordability, and affordable units must be built concurrently with or before market-rate units and integrated throughout the project rather than clustered.