Sunnyvale — Official Plan Lines

Prohibited Improvements and Narrow Exceptions

The default rule is broad: no building, structure, or other improvement may be erected, constructed, enlarged, or placed inside the official plan lines (§ 19.06.020). That rule is about the improvement’s physical location, not merely whether a construction permit is needed.

Chapter 19.06 expressly allows the following within official plan lines:

• Garden and agricultural crop planting;
• Fences and agricultural irrigation systems associated with that planting;
• Street, curb, gutter, and sidewalk improvements;
• Public utility poles and pipelines; and
• A temporary building or structure valued at no more than $1,000, but only after the owner executes the required agreement with the City (§ 19.06.020).

The exception for fences is specifically listed in Chapter 19.06. It does not establish fence height, location, visibility, or permit standards; those matters are outside the source materials and should be checked under the applicable design review and development rules.

Relief for a Constrained Parcel

An owner may apply to the City Council for permission to place, construct, erect, or enlarge an improvement within official plan lines when special conditions or exceptional parcel characteristics would make literal compliance cause practical difficulties or unnecessary hardship (§ 19.06.040).

The section identifies potentially relevant parcel characteristics, including:

• Size;
• Shape;
• Topography;
• Location; and
• Surroundings (§ 19.06.040).

The City Council may grant permission only if it finds all of the following:

1. The improvement is necessary to preserve and enjoy substantial property rights;
2. The decision would not grant a special privilege inconsistent with limitations on nearby properties; and
3. The improvement would not conflict with Chapter 19.06’s intent or the purposes and objectives of the General Plan (§ 19.06.040).

This is a distinct Chapter 19.06 permission process, not a conclusion that a conventional zoning variance is available or required. For general relief procedures outside this chapter, see Sunnyvale variances and exceptions; verify the applicable process with the jurisdiction.

Removal Agreement Is Central

If the City Council grants permission, the owner must execute an agreement requiring removal of the authorized improvement at the owner’s expense when the City acquires an easement across the property for street purposes (§ 19.06.040).

The agreement may also include City Council conditions, including:

• A time limitation; and
• A surety bond in an amount set by the City Council to secure compliance, including the removal covenant (§ 19.06.040).

This means a hardship approval does not convert the plan-line area into permanently buildable land. The improvement may remain subject to future removal when the City obtains the street easement.

No Automatic Dedication Rule in Chapter 19.06

Chapter 19.06 protects mapped future right-of-way locations, but the supplied provisions do not state that a property owner must immediately dedicate land merely because official plan lines cross the parcel. They instead prohibit most improvements within the mapped area and condition certain permissions on future removal after City acquisition of an easement (§§ 19.06.020, 19.06.040).

Immediate dedication requirements, appraisal, compensation, timing of acquisition, and development-condition requirements are not found in source materials. Verify with the jurisdiction whether a proposed permit, subdivision, map, frontage improvement, or other approval carries separate dedication obligations.

Official Plan Line Maps

Official plan lines must be clearly delineated on adopted maps. Once adopted by the Planning Commission and City Council, the maps and the information on them become part of Chapter 19.06 (§ 19.06.050).

Each map must be identified as “Official Plan Lines of” the named street or highway “Between” stated endpoints or other identifying locations. It must also include Planning Commission and City Clerk certifications showing its relationship to the City’s General Plan and its City Council adoption (§ 19.06.060).

The City Clerk must file adopted maps and their associated information with the Santa Clara County Recorder (§ 19.06.070). Recorded filing supports public notice, but an applicant should obtain and measure the operative map rather than rely only on a street name or generalized corridor description.

Streets and Corridors Listed in Chapter 19.06

The adopted-map list includes plan-line segments for the following Sunnyvale streets and corridors:

• Arques Avenue, including separate Lawrence Station Road–Sunnyvale Avenue and Mathilda Avenue–Sunnyvale Avenue segments;
• Ashcroft Way;
• Belfry Way;
• Bernardo Avenue;
• Borregas Avenue;
• Britton Avenue;
• Central Expressway;
• Coolidge Avenue;
• Del Rey Avenue;
• Duane Avenue and the Duane Avenue Connector;
• Kifer Road;
• Lawrence Station Road;
• Lincoln Avenue and the Lincoln Avenue Extension;
• Londonderry Drive, in two separately described segments;
• Mary Avenue, in two separately described segments;
• Mathilda Avenue, divided into an El Camino Real–Washington Avenue segment and a Washington Avenue–northern city-limits segment;
• Maude Avenue;
• Morse Avenue;
• New Brunswick Drive;
• Old San Francisco Road;
• Olive Avenue;
• Ontario Court;
• Reed Avenue;
• Remington Drive–Fair Oaks Avenue;
• Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road;
• San Xavier Avenue;
• Tasman Drive;
• Taylor Avenue;
• Wolfe Road, in several separately described segments; and
• Wolfe Road Extension (§ 19.06.050).

A street’s appearance on this list does not establish that every parcel along that street is affected. The controlling question is whether the parcel intersects the particular map’s depicted official plan lines. Verify with the jurisdiction.

Relationship to Other Development Review Topics

A proposed project can satisfy an underlying zoning district’s setbacks and still conflict with an official plan line. Conversely, a plan-line constraint does not itself determine whether a use is allowed, how much parking is required, or whether a discretionary review applies.

For example:

• A garage, addition, or other structure should be tested against both the official-plan-line map and ordinary site standards.
• An ADU is not exempted by Chapter 19.06; the chapter’s express exemptions are limited to the listed activities and improvements (§ 19.06.020).
• Parking configuration may be affected if a planned right-of-way occupies part of a site, but Chapter 19.06 does not establish parking counts or dimensional standards. See Sunnyvale Parking.
• Compliance with the California Building Standards Code does not displace the Chapter 19.06 siting prohibition; the source materials do not provide a building-code exception (§ 19.06.020).

Information Gaps

The source materials do not establish the following Chapter 19.06 details:

• The mapped width or exact surveyed position of any individual official plan line;
• A public online map index, map copies, or a parcel lookup procedure;
• Whether a building permit, planning permit, encroachment permit, subdivision approval, or design-review application triggers a particular City review step;
• Immediate dedication requirements, compensation procedures, or acquisition timing;
• A fee, filing form, noticing procedure, hearing timeline, or appeal process for a City Council request under § 19.06.040;
• Standards for whether a particular fence, utility facility, landscaping feature, driveway, wall, sign, or parking improvement qualifies as an exempt improvement; and
• Any district-specific exception for R-1, commercial districts, specific-plan districts, or overlays.

Verify with the jurisdiction before designing, financing, or beginning work near a mapped planned right-of-way.

Checklist

• Identify the property’s street frontage and obtain the applicable adopted official-plan-line map listed in § 19.06.050.
• Confirm whether the parcel, proposed building footprint, addition, accessory structure, or site improvement lies within the mapped official plan lines (§ 19.06.020).
• Do not assume an ordinary zoning setback line is the same as an official plan line; use the adopted map’s actual location (§§ 19.06.050, 19.06.060).
• Determine whether the proposed work is one of the limited express exceptions—such as a fence, agricultural planting, specified street work, utility pole, or pipeline (§ 19.06.020).
• For a temporary structure of $1,000 or less, execute the required agreement with the City before construction (§ 19.06.020).
• If compliance causes practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship due to parcel conditions, prepare a City Council request addressing all three required findings (§ 19.06.040).
• If seeking permission for an otherwise prohibited improvement, be prepared to sign an agreement requiring removal at the owner’s expense after City acquisition of a street easement (§ 19.06.040).
• Confirm whether the City Council may require a time limit, surety bond, or other agreement conditions (§ 19.06.040).
• Separately check underlying zoning, project-review, and site-design requirements; Chapter 19.06 does not replace them (§ 19.06.010).
• Verify parcel-specific interpretation, survey location, and any dedication or permit conditions with the jurisdiction.

Risks & Ambiguities

Plain-English Summary

If your Sunnyvale property is inside a mapped future street-right-of-way area, you generally cannot put a new building, addition, or other improvement there. A fence and certain limited items may be allowed, but most permanent construction must stay out of the plan-line area unless the City Council grants special permission—and that permission can require you to remove the improvement later at your own expense (§§ 19.06.020, 19.06.040).

Source References

• Sunnyvale Municipal Code, official plan lines ordinance—purpose and relationship to planned rights-of-way: § 19.06.010.
• Sunnyvale Municipal Code, prohibition on improvements and listed exceptions: § 19.06.020.
• Sunnyvale Municipal Code, City Council permission, required findings, removal agreement, and surety-bond authority: § 19.06.040.
• Sunnyvale Municipal Code, adopted official-plan-line maps and named corridors: § 19.06.050.
• Sunnyvale Municipal Code, map naming and certification requirements: § 19.06.060.
• Sunnyvale Municipal Code, County Recorder filing requirement: § 19.06.070.
• Sunnyvale Municipal Code, zoning district map incorporation: § 19.16.050.