San Bernardino County — Infrastructure Improvement Standards

Regional Standards

Valley Region

The Valley Region table is the most consistently urban-improvement-oriented of the three regional tables. Every listed project category requires legal and physical access, easement grants, internal, perimeter, and off-site paved access, drainage improvements, and fireflow. § 83.09.030

For residential and agricultural subdivisions, sidewalks are required on both sides of the street for resultant parcels of 1 acre or less, on one side for parcels larger than 1 acre and smaller than 2.5 acres, and are not required for parcels 2.5 acres or greater. Commercial/institutional and industrial projects require sidewalks; Public Works may require sidewalks on both sides when needed for pedestrian safety. § 83.09.030

Street lights at standard spacing, including intersections, are required for residential/agricultural projects with resultant parcels of 1 acre or less and for commercial/institutional and industrial uses. For residential/agricultural parcels 2.5 acres or greater, lights are required only at intersections. § 83.09.030

A water purveyor connection is required when the nearest property line is within 200 ft of a water line, increased by 100 ft for each dwelling unit. An individual well may be allowed only where no purveyor is available and, in adjudicated groundwater basins, where consistent with Water Master requirements. § 83.09.030

Sewer service is required in established sewer service districts and where required by the Regional Water Quality Control Board; a project must connect when the nearest property line is within 200 ft of a sewer line, increased by 100 ft for each dwelling unit. Septic systems are allowed only on parcels larger than one-half acre or when they meet Water Quality Control Board requirements. § 83.09.030

Mountain Region

The Mountain Region table requires legal and physical access, easements, perimeter and off-site paving, water service, sewer or applicable sanitation, and fireflow for every listed development category. Internal roads, curbs and gutters, street lighting, and drainage are reduced for residential/agricultural subdivisions with resultant parcels 2.5 acres or greater. § 83.09.040

For residential/agricultural parcels of 1 acre or less or more than 1 acre to less than 2.5 acres, internal roads, curbs and gutters, drainage improvements, and intersection-only lighting are required. Those items are marked not required for parcels 2.5 acres or greater; sidewalks are not required for any Mountain Region residential/agricultural category. § 83.09.040

Commercial/institutional projects require internal, perimeter, and off-site paving, curbs and gutters, sidewalks, intersection lighting, drainage, and fireflow. Industrial projects have the same requirements except that sidewalks are not required. Lighting must comply with Chapter 83.07, a related topic addressed through San Bernardino County Overlay Districts where parcel-specific overlay controls apply. § 83.09.040

The water-purveyor and sewer connection distances are 200 ft, increased by 100 ft per dwelling unit. Individual wells may be allowed for residential and institutional uses if no water purveyor is available; septic systems are allowed only on parcels larger than one-half acre or when they meet Water Quality Control Board requirements. § 83.09.040

Desert Region

The Desert Region table differentiates more sharply by parcel size and subdivision scale. Legal and physical access, easements, drainage improvements, and water service are required across all listed categories, but road paving, curbs, sidewalks, lighting, fireflow, sewer, and septic treatment vary by use and lot size. § 83.09.050

For residential/agricultural parcels of 1 acre or less, internal, perimeter, and off-site paved access, curbs and gutters, sidewalks on 2 sides, standard street-light spacing, water-purveyor service, sewer or applicable sanitation, drainage, and fireflow are required. § 83.09.050

For residential/agricultural parcels larger than 1 acre and smaller than 2.5 acres, certain paving obligations do not apply when resultant parcels are at least twice the zoning district’s minimum lot size; the listed subdivision-scale rules also limit application in certain Parcel Map situations. Curbs and gutters are not ordinarily required, sidewalks are required on 1 side, intersection-only lights are required, and fireflow is required. § 83.09.050

For residential/agricultural parcels 2.5 acres or greater, paving may be limited by the table notes, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, and street lights are not required, septic systems are allowed subject to the table’s conditions, and fireflow is generally required. Fireflow is not required for a single-family dwelling or accessory structure on a parcel of 2.5 acres or greater if the structure is at least 50 ft from property lines and structures on the parcel meet County fire-separation standards. § 83.09.050

Commercial/institutional and industrial projects have Desert Region paving rules that can depend on roadway access and the table notes. A paved driveway approach is required when industrial development accesses a paved road; alternative parking-area paving standards are addressed separately on the San Bernardino County Parking page. § 83.09.050

For Desert Region water and sewer connections, the trigger is 200 ft from the applicable line plus 100 ft for each residential lot. Individual wells may be allowed if no water purveyor is available and, in adjudicated groundwater basins, if consistent with Water Master requirements; septic systems are allowed when consistent with Water Quality Control Board requirements or outside a sewer service district. § 83.09.050

Access, Roads, Easements, and Drainage

Every regional table requires legal and physical access and grants of easements. Required easements include rights-of-way needed for transportation and circulation, drainage and flood-control facilities, and utilities. §§ 83.09.030–83.09.050

Required access can include internal roads, perimeter roads abutting the subject property, and off-site paving to the nearest paved road, depending on the region and category. The separate County road chapter applies to roads in the unincorporated portions of San Bernardino County, but Chapter 83.09 itself does not state road widths or geometric design numbers. §§ 83.09.030–83.09.050; 83.12.020

Drainage improvements are mandatory throughout the Valley and Desert tables and for most Mountain Region categories. The controlling tables do not specify a single universal drainage design; verify the required improvement package with the jurisdiction and coordinate any related San Bernardino County Landscaping and Screening requirements separately. §§ 83.09.030–83.09.050

Water, Sewer, Septic, and Fireflow

The critical utility-screening question is whether the property line is within the applicable 200 ft connection distance from a water or sewer line. In the Valley and Mountain Regions, the distance grows by 100 ft per dwelling unit; in the Desert Region, it grows by 100 ft per residential lot. §§ 83.09.030–83.09.050

In the Desert Region, a Parcel Map subdivision must meet Table 83-11’s water and sanitation provisions unless it can meet the special well-and-septic separation standards. Those standards include 100 ft between wells and leach lines, 150 ft between wells and seepage pits, and specified 50 ft or 75 ft property-line separations; engineering-supported Composite Development Plans may establish feasibility instead. § 83.09.060

For approved subdivisions, each parcel must receive public-utility connections, including electricity, gas, water, sewer, and telecommunications services, as subdivision improvements. Utility lines serving or within a subdivision must generally be underground, while allowed overhead lines should be at parcel rears where practical and sides where necessary. § 87.06.050(f)

Fire hydrants and associated underground water pipes must be installed at the sizes and locations required and approved by the Fire Department. A subdivision also must provide approved on-site sewage disposal or an approved community sewage system before final building inspection, with required connection fees paid. §§ 87.06.050(c), 87.06.050(h)

Chapter 83.09 does not establish building-construction specifications. Those remain distinct from the land-development improvements discussed here and should be reviewed under the California Building Standards Code. § 83.09.020

Existing Lots, Alterations, and Exemptions

Chapter 83.09 identifies separate residential-construction standards for development on existing lots of record. This means a homeowner should not assume that a subdivision table applies unchanged to a single residence on an existing legal lot; verify the applicable minimum residential construction standards with the jurisdiction. § 83.09.020

Road dedication and street-improvement standards in Chapter 83.09 do not apply to an alteration or enlargement if the proposed work, plus all alterations and enlargements completed during the preceding 3 years, does not exceed one-half of the original square footage of all buildings and structures on the lot. They also do not apply to accessory structures other than accessory dwellings. § 83.09.020

An California ADU law analysis does not replace Chapter 83.09 review. The road-dedication and street-improvement exemption expressly excludes accessory dwellings, so verify the applicable County requirements for an ADU proposal. § 83.09.020

Waivers and Project Conditions

Each regional table allows waivers or modifications under § 83.05.070. Infill waivers may be available for certain curb, gutter, and sidewalk requirements where no plan or financing mechanism exists to extend improvements to other existing properties and the new improvements would not connect to other infrastructure. §§ 83.09.030–83.09.050

Public Works may still require curbs, gutters, or sidewalks where needed to control vehicle access, manage street drainage, or protect pedestrian safety; Caltrans may require curbs and gutters on State highways. A waiver is therefore not automatic, and a project-specific determination is necessary. §§ 83.09.030–83.09.050

Subdivision approvals may also require bicycle/walking paths or hiking/equestrian trails where appropriate; if construction is infeasible or unsound engineering, the review authority may allow payment into a dedicated fund. Private streets or common areas require County-approved CC&Rs addressing maintenance. §§ 87.06.050(a), 87.06.050(e)

Checklist

• Confirm the parcel is in an unincorporated area and identify whether it is in the Valley Region, Mountain Region, or Desert Region. § 83.09.020
• Classify the project as residential/agricultural, commercial/institutional, or industrial and calculate resultant parcel size after subdivision. §§ 83.09.030–83.09.050
• Provide legal and physical access and the required transportation, drainage, flood-control, and utility easements. §§ 83.09.030–83.09.050
• Determine required internal, perimeter, and off-site paving, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, and street lighting from the applicable regional table. §§ 83.09.030–83.09.050
• Measure the nearest water and sewer lines against the applicable 200 ft trigger and the required 100 ft project increment. §§ 83.09.030–83.09.050
• Confirm whether a well or septic system is allowed and document all required Desert Region separations when applicable. §§ 83.09.030–83.09.060
• Obtain Fire Department approval for hydrant sizes and locations and demonstrate applicable fireflow. §§ 83.09.030–83.09.050; 87.06.050(c)
• Plan underground subdivision utilities and required utility connections. § 87.06.050(f)
• If requesting relief, document the basis for a waiver or modification under § 83.05.070. §§ 83.09.030–83.09.050

Risks & Ambiguities

Plain-English Summary

For new development in unincorporated San Bernardino County, Chapter 83.09 makes infrastructure a site-planning issue, not an afterthought: the County looks at the region, the proposed use, and the size of each resulting parcel to decide what roads, utilities, drainage, sidewalks, lighting, and fire protection must be built. The biggest cost drivers are often access paving and whether water or sewer lines are close enough to trigger a mandatory connection. §§ 83.09.030–83.09.050

Source References

• San Bernardino County Development Code, purpose and applicability: §§ 83.09.010, 83.09.020
• San Bernardino County Development Code, Valley Region infrastructure table: § 83.09.030
• San Bernardino County Development Code, Mountain Region infrastructure table: § 83.09.040
• San Bernardino County Development Code, Desert Region infrastructure table: § 83.09.050
• San Bernardino County Development Code, Desert Region Parcel Map well and septic separations: § 83.09.060
• San Bernardino County Development Code, subdivision improvement requirements: § 87.06.050
• San Bernardino County Development Code, County road applicability: § 83.12.020