As an unincorporated area of the County of San Luis Obispo, the CCSD cannot issue building permits. Land use authority is vested with the County. To learn more about land use conditions and to apply for a building permit, please contact the County's Department of Planning and Building at 805-781-5600.

Department of Planning and Building Website

Most development in Cambria is subject to appeal, and the California Coastal Commission (CCC) may take jurisdiction over development applications through the appeals process, as the CCSD's service area is entirely within the Coastal Zone. It would be prudent for all applicants for will serves to include contacting the CCC as part of their due diligence prior to submission. 

"Equivalent dwelling unit" or "EDU" - The average water usage for a single-family residence, as determined by the district, constitutes one EDU. The table of equivalent dwelling units determines the number of EDUs (or fraction thereof) attributable to a particular use on a parcel of land. If you would like to change the use of a commercial property please contact the CCSD to determine the current number of EDUs assigned to the property and use the table below to assess your change of use options.

Effective January 1, 2022, paper applications will no longer be accepted. Please complete the Will Serve Application below for remodels, additions, commercial change-of-use, and reconstruction. 

Will Serve and Fire Plan Review Application

Processing will not begin until the required deposit check is received at our office. 

Payments must be either mailed to P.O. Box 65, Cambria, CA 93428, or delivered by hand to 1316 Tamsen Street, Suite 201, between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. or to our 24-hour drop boxes at the door to Suite 201 or at the bottom of the driveway.  Online payment is not available at this time.  

For the fastest service, please email engineering@cambriacsd.org with any questions.  

The current CCSD code requires that all existing residential and commercial buildings shall, at the time of change of ownership, be retrofitted, if not already so, exclusively with high-efficiency water-use plumbing fixtures.

Approximately 20 years ago the CCSD implemented a retrofit program to replace plumbing fixtures in existing residences and businesses with water-conserving fixtures such as shower heads and toilets. Currently, all new construction is required to meet both the State of California and CCSD standards. New construction is required to offset demand through the purchase of retrofit points or actual retrofitting of non-compliant water fixtures within District boundaries. The number of points required is based upon a combination of the square footage of the lot being built upon and the number of bathrooms constructed. 

*May include additional charge for actual cost over 2 staff hours.

**10% administrative overhead applies to all project invoices

Please complete our Vacation Rental Will Serve Request form to initiate your vacation rental registration.