Licensed General Contractor in moraga Since 2007

Moraga runs planning from 329 Rheem Boulevard, but building plan check and inspection are contracted to Contra Costa County. There is a useful exception: termite repair, solar on an existing roof, and interior remodelling that leaves exterior walls, windows and garage size alone can go direct to the county. Cross the recycling thresholds, though, and a deposit is still due to the town first.

Official info: Moraga building permit requirements

Residents put the Moraga Open Space Ordinance on the ballot themselves and passed it in April 1986. It bars development on minor ridgelines above the 800-foot contour and within hazardous areas, and steers building away from slopes of twenty percent or steeper, which may only proceed where site-specific analysis supports it. Land zoned OS or OS-M permits agriculture alone. Council tightened the rules again in 2018.

Official info: Moraga open space zoning rules

Projects meeting setbacks, code and the Design Guidelines can take Administrative Design Review by staff, roughly a sixty-day path. Anything needing an exception, or sitting in a scenic corridor, goes to the Planning Commission acting as the Design Review Board, averaging ninety days. The Board meets second and fourth Mondays and applications close twenty days ahead. Every above-ground exterior alteration carries ten days of neighbour notice, then a ten-day appeal window.

Official info: Moraga design review timelines

Moraga's ordinance gives the Planning Director ministerial approval authority once an application satisfies Municipal Code sections 8.124.060 and 8.124.070. Ministerial means no discretionary hearing, no board date and no neighbour appeal, removing months of calendar risk. The trade is precision: every criterion must be met as written, so feasibility work belongs before drawings rather than after a rejection.

Official info: Moraga ADU approval process

A Waste Management Plan acknowledgement is required for any addition or alteration increasing conditioned area or size, any project valued from $50,000, demolition-only work of 300 square feet, and re-roofs above 1,000 square feet. The deposit goes to the town ahead of the county application, with receipts uploaded to Green Halo Systems. Nearly every serious remodel here triggers it.

Official info: Moraga Waste Management Plan rules

Moraga protects categories rather than one diameter: native trees indigenous to the area, mainly bay, oak, redwood, toyon and knobcone pine; orchard trees, meaning fruit or nut trees planted commercially; and trees of historic significance. Removal needs a permit from the Planning Director, trunk measured three feet above natural grade under Municipal Code 12.12.020. The orchard clause matters here, because this valley once shipped pears by the trainload and remnants of those orchards still stand in back gardens.

Official info: Moraga tree removal application

Moraga sits inside the Moraga-Orinda Fire District, a wildland-urban interface community, and the State Fire Marshal reissued Fire Hazard Severity Zone mapping in February 2025. A high or very-high classification requires ignition-resistant roof assemblies, venting, and glass, which moves the material budget rather than just the detailing. Fire access standards can also govern where a detached structure may stand on a hillside lot.

Official info: CAL FIRE hazard severity zone mapswildland-urban