Permeable Driveways and Stormwater in Burbank

Last reviewed October 2026, from the Burbank Municipal Code, the Burbank2035 Safety Element, USDA soil data and NOAA normals.

When Burbank's stormwater rules apply

Burbank doesn't have an ordinance called "LID." Its stormwater rules for new construction live in Burbank Municipal Code 9-3-414, which carries out the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board's MS4 permit, Order R4-2012-0175. The thresholds are far above a normal home driveway:

For comparison, a long side driveway to a rear garage is about 700 square feet, a two-car pad about 440, a backyard patio 200 to 600. A house-lot driveway replacement or concrete patio stays well under the line. A commercial parking slab doesn't: see commercial concrete in Burbank.

Permeable paving and the 45 percent front-yard cap

Some owners look at permeable concrete as a way to pave more of the front yard. Burbank closed that door in the wording of the rule itself. BMC 10-1-603(G)(5)(a) limits hardscape to 45 percent of the required front setback and defines hardscape as cement concrete, asphalt, brick, pavers and similar impervious or semi-pervious paved surfaces. Permeable paving counts the same as solid paving, and the rest of the setback still has to be landscaped.

How a permeable concrete driveway works

Pervious concrete uses a mix with little or no sand, so the hardened slab is full of connected voids and rain passes straight through instead of running off. Below it sits a deep layer of clean crushed stone that holds the water while it soaks into the ground. It asks more of the owner than a standard slab:

• The surface has to be kept open: regular vacuum sweeping, and no piles of soil, mulch or sand left on it.
• Planter beds should drain away from it, or silt clogs the voids.
• The stone base is deeper than under a standard driveway, which means more digging and hauling.
• It works where the ground below can take water, and that is decided by the soil, not the slab.

What Burbank's ground can take

On the valley floor, USDA soil data puts most of Burbank on Urban land-Palmview-Tujunga soils: sandy and gravelly, well drained to somewhat excessively drained. That kind of ground lets water soak in readily, which is the condition permeable paving depends on. The hillside streets are different: thin soil over weathered bedrock, with the Safety Element warning of landslides on steep slopes. The Burbank soil, faults and flood map guide and the hillside concrete guide cover both.

Other ways to manage driveway water

Most Burbank drainage problems are solved with grading, not a special slab. A new driveway is formed to fall toward the street or a planted area. Where the garage sits lower than the street, a trench drain across the driveway at the door catches water before it reaches the garage. Downspouts can be led to planted areas instead of across the paving. And during the work itself, the City's permit conditions keep wash water and slurry out of the gutter.

With most of the year's rain packed into four months, a driveway that drains badly shows it all at once in a February storm. Planning the fall before the forms go in is the cheap fix; the same goes for concrete slabs and pads beside the house.

For the full list of services, see the concrete contractor in Burbank overview.