Burbank Remodeling Contractor works in San Fernando, California, a city of roughly 24,000 people ten miles northwest of Burbank up the 5. It is small, it is old, and it is genuinely its own city rather than a Los Angeles neighborhood, which turns out to matter a great deal for anyone building here.
The 2.4-square-mile City of San Fernando runs its own Community Development Department and Building Division at 117 Macneil Street, fully separate from LADBS despite being surrounded by the City of Los Angeles on all sides. Call (747) 330-0305 and we will talk through what that means for your project.
Its Own Building Division, Not LADBS
This is the practical headline for San Fernando homeowners. Even though the city is entirely surrounded by Los Angeles, permits do not go through LADBS. They go through the city's own Building Division on Macneil Street, with its own plan check, its own fee schedule and its own inspectors.
In practice a small-city permit counter tends to mean faster and more personal plan check than the LADBS process, which is a concrete advantage for a homeowner. It also means a contractor who only knows the Los Angeles system will be learning on your project. We work in both and we know how this one behaves.
The Oldest Town in the San Fernando Valley
San Fernando incorporated in 1911, before Los Angeles annexed everything around it, which makes it the oldest town in the Valley. The housing stock reflects that layered history: upgraded 1920s Craftsman bungalows, renovated mid-century ranches, and later two-story stucco homes.
The 1920s bungalows here have the same construction characteristics as their counterparts across the region, meaning lath and plaster, knob-and-tube, galvanized supply and unbolted raised foundations. What is different is the scale of the market. These are working family homes rather than showpieces, and the remodels that make sense are the ones that add function and fix systems rather than chasing a finish level the block will not support.
A Small, Ownership-Driven Single-Family Market
The city holds roughly 6,600 housing units, 72.6 percent of them detached single-family, in a compact 2.4 square miles. That is a heavily ownership-driven market, and it shows in what people build.
Owners here tend to stay, which means additions and remodels beat teardowns and flips. The projects are for the family that will actually live in the result: a second bathroom, a primary suite, an opened-up kitchen, a unit for a parent or an adult child. That suits how we work, since a house someone intends to keep for twenty years is a house where doing the hidden work properly actually pays off.
ADUs on Deep-Driveway Bungalow Lots
The historic core around the San Fernando Mall and Macneil Street keeps a walkable early twentieth century fabric, and bungalows with deep driveways are common throughout the city. That configuration is close to ideal for a detached ADU: there is room at the rear, and the driveway provides the site access that decides so much of a backyard build's cost.
Because the city runs its own building division, its ADU standards and process are its own rather than Los Angeles's. That is generally good news for the timeline. It is also a reason to confirm the local requirements rather than assuming what applies a mile away applies here.
Talk to a Burbank general contractor about your project
Tell us what you have in mind and we will give you a straight answer on scope, permits, timeline and price.
Call (747) 330-0305Frequently asked questions
Does San Fernando really have its own building department?
Yes. The City of San Fernando is an independent municipality with its own Community Development Department and Building Division on Macneil Street, despite being completely surrounded by the City of Los Angeles. Permits, plan check, fees and inspections are all handled by the city rather than by LADBS.
Is permitting faster here than in Los Angeles?
In our experience a small-city counter tends to be more direct and more personal than the LADBS process, which usually translates into a faster and more predictable plan check. It is not a guarantee, and complete drawings on the first submittal remain the biggest thing under your control.
Can I build an ADU on a San Fernando bungalow lot?
Frequently yes. The deep-driveway bungalow lots common here suit detached units well, both for rear-yard room and for the site access that keeps construction cost down. The city's own ADU standards apply rather than the Los Angeles ones, so we verify the specifics for your parcel.
How far is San Fernando from your Burbank base?
About ten miles, roughly fifteen minutes up the 5 or San Fernando Road outside of peak hours. It is comfortably within our normal service area.