Redondo Beach Municipal Code: Zoning, Noise, and Penalties

The Redondo Beach Municipal Code is the city’s compiled set of local laws, covering zoning, noise, animals, smoking, rentals, business licensing, parking, and enforcement. Because Redondo Beach is a charter city under the California Constitution, it has broad authority to write and enforce these rules on municipal matters without waiting for the state legislature.¹ The full code lives on eCode360 and is searchable by topic or code number.

How to Find and Read the Code

The code uses a hierarchical numbering system organized into titles, chapters, and sections. Title 2 covers city administration. Title 3 addresses public safety. Title 4 deals with public welfare and conduct. Title 5 handles sanitation and animals. Title 6 governs business licensing. Title 10 contains planning and zoning.

Cross-references between titles are common. A business licensing rule in Title 6 may point you to a public safety requirement in Title 3, so when you find a section that applies to your situation, follow any referenced sections before you assume you have the full picture. The city adopts new ordinances periodically, so confirm you’re reading the current version by checking the ordinance list and supplement dates on eCode360.

Zoning, Setbacks, and Coastal Rules

Title 10 controls what can be built, where, and how tall. Zones are split into residential, commercial, and industrial, each with its own development standards.

Setbacks are where homeowners run into the most trouble. In the R-1 single-family zone, the front setback must average at least 25 percent of the lot depth or 25 feet, whichever is less, and cannot fall below 20 feet at any point. Side setbacks require a minimum of five feet. Rear yards must average at least 20 percent of the lot depth with a 15-foot minimum.²

Adding a second story triggers extra setback averaging. In R-1, the second story must set back an additional 10 feet beyond the required front setback average, and any front-facing wall where the top of the plate exceeds 16 feet is treated as a second story for setback purposes.² A remodel that clears every ground-floor rule can still fail once height enters the picture.

Height limits also apply zone-by-zone. Some non-habitable structures can project above the limit: mechanical equipment by up to four feet, TV and radio antennas by up to 10 feet, and church steeples by up to 15 feet with Planning Commission design review approval.³

If you’re building anywhere near the shore, expect a second layer of review. Projects in the coastal zone need a coastal development permit, and where the city’s zoning code conflicts with the Local Coastal Program, the coastal program controls. Projects on tidelands, submerged lands, or public trust lands go directly to the California Coastal Commission rather than being handled locally, and any amendment the city makes to its Local Coastal Program has to be certified by the Commission before it takes effect.⁴

Noise Limits

Interior noise standards are measured in decibels. Residential properties are limited to 40 dBA between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., and 45 dBA between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. Hospitals and designated quiet areas are held to 40 dBA around the clock.⁵

Duration matters as much as volume. A source can exceed the base standard by up to five decibels if it lasts no more than one cumulative minute per hour, or by up to 10 decibels for any period of time to allow for brief spikes. The base standard itself can be exceeded for no more than five cumulative minutes per hour.⁵ An occasional loud burst during the day and a continuous nighttime drone are treated differently.

Dogs and Other Animals

Dogs over four months old must be licensed within 30 days of the owner moving to Redondo Beach or acquiring the dog. Licenses renew annually, dogs must wear their metal license tags on their collar at all times, and a current rabies vaccine is required to license.⁶

In any public place, and on private property that isn’t enclosed, dogs must be on a leash no longer than six feet. Dogs are barred from city parks except on identified walking paths, in the designated off-leash area, or at city-approved special events.⁶

Barking has a specific threshold: no animal may produce noise audible at the complainant’s property line for more than five minutes in any hour. Keeping nondomestic animals such as chickens, goats, pigs, or horses requires a separate city permit for each animal, and doing so without one is a misdemeanor.⁶

Smoking on Beaches and in Parks

Smoking is banned on all Redondo Beach public beaches, including jetties, breakwalls, access stairways, ramps, and the bike or pedestrian paths adjoining beach areas. The “beach” definition reaches 1,000 feet seaward from the low mean tide line and landward to the coastal bluffs or the edge of public sidewalks and properties along the Esplanade, depending on the stretch of coastline.⁷

The ban also covers all city-owned recreational areas open to the public: parklands, playgrounds, sports fields, walking paths, gardens, hiking trails, the North Redondo Beach bike path, skateboard parks, and the parking lots serving those areas.⁷

Short-Term Rentals Are Not Allowed

Redondo Beach does not permit short-term rentals. The city states the position plainly.⁸ Listing a property on Airbnb, VRBO, or a similar platform puts the owner in violation of the municipal code. New owners in a beach market often assume the opposite, so this one is worth confirming before you buy or list.

Business Licenses

Anyone conducting business in Redondo Beach must obtain a city business license before operating. It is unlawful to carry on any business, trade, profession, or occupation in the city without one.⁹

License fees combine a base rate by classification with a per-employee charge of $18. Most businesses operating from a fixed location in the city pay a $99 base annual tax plus the per-employee rate. General building contractors without a fixed city location pay $257 annually, general engineering contractors pay $192, and specialty contractors pay $129; contractors with a fixed place of business in the city pay the standard $99 base plus the per-employee rate instead. Service providers without a fixed city location who use a vehicle pay $129 annually. Owner-builders constructing buildings for sale or as rentals pay $192.⁹ These renew every year.

Sidewalk vendors need both a business license and a separate sidewalk vending permit. The permit application requires identification, a description of goods, cart dimensions with photos, proposed locations and hours, proof of a California seller’s permit, and food handler certification plus Los Angeles County Department of Public Health approval for food sales. The application fee is set by council resolution and is non-refundable.¹⁰

Parking on Private Property

Required parking spaces can only be used for licensed, highway-operable motor vehicles. Storing boats, furniture, machinery, building materials, or unlicensed vehicles in a required parking space is prohibited.¹¹

Shared driveways serving two or more dwellings cannot be used for parking or anything else that would block other residents from reaching their spaces. Boats, trailers, and camper tops left in a front yard for more than 72 consecutive hours violate the code, and the same 72-hour rule covers construction equipment and materials on residential property unless a valid building permit is in place. Commercial vehicles over 5,600 pounds unladen weight cannot be parked or stored on residential property at all.¹¹

Penalties and How They Add Up

Most code violations can be charged as either a misdemeanor or an infraction, depending on the section and the city attorney’s discretion. A misdemeanor conviction carries a fine of up to $1,000, up to six months in jail, or both. Each day a violation continues counts as a separate offense.¹²

Infractions are tiered:

First violation: up to $100
Second violation of the same ordinance within 12 months: up to $200
Third and later violations within 12 months: up to $500 each

Court-imposed statutory assessments apply on top of these base amounts, and in California those assessments can more than double what you actually pay.¹²

Where Local Authority Stops

The charter grants the city power to make and enforce all laws on municipal affairs, subject only to the charter and the California Constitution, and that authority reaches any power state law establishes whether or not the charter names it specifically.¹ In practice, the city sets its own rules on things like business tax rates and zoning details without state authorization.

Local authority has limits, though. The Fair Housing Act overrides any local zoning practice that discriminates based on race, religion, disability, familial status, or other protected characteristics. Federal telecommunications rules cap how long the city can take to act on wireless facility applications. And the California Coastal Commission must certify any change to the Local Coastal Program before it takes effect. The municipal code carries real weight inside those boundaries; outside them, state and federal law wins.

1
eCode360. Redondo Beach Code – Title CHA Charter
2
eCode360. Redondo Beach Code – Single-Family Residential Zones
3
eCode360. Redondo Beach Code – Division 3, All Zones
4
eCode360. Redondo Beach Code – Article 10, Coastal Development Permits
5
eCode360. Redondo Beach Code – Article 4, Interior Noise Standards
6
City of Redondo Beach. Animal Services
7
eCode360. Redondo Beach Code – Chapter 8, Prohibition of Smoking in Beaches and Recreational Areas
8
City of Redondo Beach. Rental Property
9
eCode360. Redondo Beach Code 6-1 – Business Licensing
10
eCode360. Redondo Beach Code – Vending from Stands in Public Ways
11
eCode360. Redondo Beach Code – Article 5, Parking Regulations
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eCode360. Redondo Beach Code – Chapter 2, Penalty Provisions