Long Beach has designated Historic Districts with a formal roofing review, and reroofing inside one means a Certificate of Appropriateness before the permit issues.
What's going on with your Long Beach roof?
Long Beach has several designated Historic Districts with a formal roofing-review process built into the permit. The Hellman Street Craftsman Historic District (developed 1911–1920) and the Rose Park Historic District (Craftsman bungalows, 1910–1922) hold high concentrations of original Craftsman bungalows, and the Sunrise Boulevard and Wilton Street Historic Districts add more.
Reroofing a home or accessory structure inside any of these districts requires historic review for historically and architecturally compatible colors and materials, through a Certificate of Appropriateness administered by the Planning Bureau (562-570-6194). There's no fee for the review itself, but it's a step that adds time to the schedule beyond the standard building permit, so start it before you've committed to a material.
Like Torrance, Long Beach straddles two Title 24 zones. Most of the city, including 90802, 90803, 90804, 90806, 90810, 90813, 90814, 90815 and 90822, sits in Climate Zone 6. North Long Beach's 90805, plus 90807 and 90808, sit in Zone 8, which puts a steep-slope reroof there under the state's cool-roof minimum in a way zone 6 isn't.
Long Beach runs on Southern California Edison for electricity, not LADWP, so the LADWP Consumer Rebate Program's cool roof rebate does not reach any Long Beach address. Our Title 24 & cool roof rebate guide covers what the rule actually requires.
Climate zone assignment by zip: SoCalREN Climate Zone Directory, County of Los Angeles, source California Energy Commission.
Long Beach isn't part of the City of Los Angeles, so LADBS doesn't handle permits here. Reroofing a one- or two-family dwelling, or an accessory structure, can be applied for, paid, and automatically issued in one step through the city's online permitting system at the Development Services Building Bureau, 411 W. Ocean Blvd, 2nd Floor, and it's available outside normal business hours. A historic-district property still needs the Certificate of Appropriateness above before the permit issues.
The 1910s–1920s bungalow stock in Hellman Street, Rose Park and nearby districts are Craftsman-era houses where shingle age is the first thing to check, and a roof can look intact from the street while the underlayment is worn.
The postwar suburbs, built by the Bixby land companies, sit outside the historic core. Earlier neighborhoods such as Belmont Heights, Belmont Shore and Naples date to the early 1900s.
Carmelitos (1938) is cited as Southern California's first affordable-housing complex. Multifamily buildings usually have flat or low-slope roofs, where drainage and membrane condition matter more than in a pitched-roof house.
Whether historic review applies depends on the address, so check the district boundary with the Planning Bureau before choosing a material.
Long Beach is a flat coastal city without hillside brush terrain, so hillside fire-zone mapping isn't the concern it is in the hills. The Palos Verdes hills to the northwest are a climate matter, not a fire one: at roughly 1,200 feet they block west-to-east airflow and a significant amount of coastal moisture, so Long Beach likely gets somewhat less fog than Santa Monica despite sitting on the coast. Confirm any address on CAL FIRE's map.
Yes. Reroofing a home or accessory structure inside one of Long Beach's designated Historic Districts requires historic review for historically and architecturally compatible colors and materials, handled through a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Planning Bureau. There's no fee for the review itself.
No. Long Beach is served by Southern California Edison for electricity, not LADWP, so the LADWP Consumer Rebate Program's cool roof rebate doesn't apply. SCE's residential program catalog doesn't list a comparable cool-roof cash rebate.
Most of Long Beach, including 90802, 90803, 90804, 90806, 90810, 90813, 90814, 90815 and 90822, sits in Title 24 Climate Zone 6. North Long Beach's 90805, plus 90807 and 90808, sit in Zone 8, where the state's steep-slope cool-roof rule applies to a tile or shingle reroof and doesn't in zone 6.
Reroofing a one- or two-family dwelling or accessory structure can be applied for, paid, and automatically issued in one step through the city's online permitting system at the Long Beach Development Services Building Bureau, available outside normal business hours. A historic-district property needs its Certificate of Appropriateness first.
Long Beach is a flat coastal city without hillside brush terrain. The Palos Verdes hills to its northwest block some airflow and coastal moisture from reaching the Long Beach basin, which is a fog and climate effect rather than a fire one. Confirm any address on CAL FIRE's current map.
Long Beach sits just east of the South Bay, which is why it has its own page rather than a place on that hub. Torrance, to the west, is another city split between zone 6 and zone 8, and Inglewood lies to the northwest. For every other service, start at Roofing Los Angeles.
Tell us the district if you know it, the roof type, and what you're seeing.