Monterey Park, CA Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Downtown Design Guide (2026)

Section 21.15.090 of the Monterey Park Municipal Code sets Property Development Standards for Mixed-Use Developments and Commercial Developments across the PD Zone's five subdistricts. Table 21.15(A) caps building height at 75 feet or five stories in the Downtown Core and North Atlantic subdistrict, up to 130 feet within 200 feet of Hellman Avenue under a footnote, 55 feet in the Downtown Perimeter and Baltimore subdistricts, and 40 feet in East Garvey, and requires buildings to vary in height rather than hold one continuous roofline, with 50% of building frontage along Garvey and Garfield Avenues averaging no more than 40 feet within 20 feet of the pedestrian realm.

Subsection (C) sets pedestrian realm widths measured from the curb: 15 feet on Garvey Avenue east of Atlantic Boulevard, and 12 feet on Atlantic Boulevard, Garfield Avenue, Baltimore Avenue, and Garvey Avenue west of Atlantic. Nonresidential and commercial storefronts must sit at or within five feet of the interior pedestrian realm edge at sidewalk grade, while residential-only ground floors get a five to ten foot setback for stoops and landscaping. Side and rear setbacks are waived unless the parcel touches an R-1 lot or street, which triggers a 15 foot yard.

The same section reaches into storefront design: at least 75% of ground floor frontage along Garvey, Garfield, or Atlantic must be clear glass, roof signs and internally lit box signs are banned, and awning valances cannot exceed 12 inches. Projects run through a Precise Plan conditional use permit reviewed by the City Planner and Planning Commission under Chapter 21.15, with revocation authority under Section 21.15.170 if approval was obtained by fraud or its conditions were violated, and appeals proceed under Chapter 1.10.