The short answer
Most California towns that require story poles also require a story pole certification form, letter or stamped plan from a licensed professional confirming the poles match the approved plan. Who may sign and when it is due differ by town. Some accept only a licensed land surveyor or a surveying civil engineer, others accept an architect or contractor, and deadlines run from “within five days of installation” to “three weeks before the hearing.” The table below covers the 13 jurisdictions we work in most, as of September 2026.
What Is on a Story Pole Certification Form, Town by Town
| Town | Certification required? | Who may sign | Format | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hillsborough | Yes | Licensed surveyor or civil engineer (architect not accepted) | Letter with stamp, signature and approved plan attached | Within 5 days of installation; submitted no later than 5 days before the hearing |
| Los Altos Hills | Staff inspection; surveyor or civil engineer sets perimeter points; photos | Project surveyor or civil engineer for layout | Photographs to staff | Before public notice |
| Los Altos (City) | Per City specifications `[CONFIRM]` | Poles up 20 days before hearing | ||
| Los Gatos | Yes | Licensed surveyor or civil engineer | Written verification of height and position of poles and netting | Before neighborhood notification, with photos |
| Monte Sereno | Yes | California registered land surveyor (form also names a civil engineer) | City’s Story Pole Certification Form, stamped and signed | Two weeks before the hearing |
| Mill Valley | Yes | Licensed land surveyor | Certifying document to Planning and Building | With the poles, 10 days before the hearing |
| Tiburon | Yes (carry out or certify) | Surveyor, engineer, architect, landscape architect or contractor | Certification to the Town | Before the Design Review Board meeting (Town of Tiburon, checklist) |
| Burbank | Yes | Licensed architect, engineer or surveyor | Story Poles Affidavit under penalty of perjury, plus photos from 3 vantage points | Before public noticing; planner verifies and visits |
| Calabasas | Yes | Licensed contractor, surveyor, architect or civil engineer | Written certification with the plan | Three weeks before the first hearing |
| Laguna Beach | Yes | Registered land surveyor or civil engineer licensed to survey | Certification of location and height (stamp on the staking plan) | At least 21 calendar days before the first hearing |
| Malibu | Yes, for new homes, new commercial, primary-view and scenic-area projects | Licensed surveyor, civil engineer or architect (surveyor follow-up if challenged) | Certification to the case planner, then planner site visit | Before public notification (City of Malibu, policy manual) |
| Pacific Palisades (City of LA) | Per HOA | Per HOA | Per HOA | Per HOA |
| Santa Barbara (City) | Yes | Surveyor, engineer, architect, landscape architect or contractor | Signed certification letter with address, APN, PLN number and required statement | After installation, before removal |
| Santa Barbara County (Montecito, Hope Ranch) | Yes | The licensed professional who prepared the plan or installed the poles | Certification to staff | After installation, before Board review |
Owners, applicants, relatives and anyone with a financial interest may never certify; Laguna Beach, Malibu and Burbank state it, and the others apply the same rule.
Story Pole Certification California, Three Patterns Worth Knowing
- Surveyor-only towns (Hillsborough, Mill Valley, Monte Sereno, Laguna Beach, Los Gatos) will reject a certification from the architect who drew the house. Plan the surveyor early.
- Certify-before-notice towns (Malibu, Burbank, Los Gatos) will not mail the hearing notice until the certification is in and the planner has verified the poles. The certification date effectively sets the hearing date.
- Certify-after-install-before-removal towns (Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara County) give more flexibility but still expect the letter before the board looks at the poles.
Who signs, and why the town cares
The point of certification is that somebody with a licence has put their name to the claim that the poles match the approved plan. A planner cannot measure a 28-foot ridge from the sidewalk, and a neighbour objecting at the hearing cannot either. The signed document is what lets the board treat the silhouette as evidence rather than as an approximation.
That is also why no town on this list lets the owner or the applicant sign. The stricter jurisdictions go further and name a licensed land surveyor or a surveying civil engineer specifically, because setting a pole top to a stated elevation is survey work measured from a benchmark, not a tape measure from the ground.
Deadlines follow the same logic. Where a town wants the certification before the notice is mailed, as Malibu and Burbank do, the poles are not considered installed until the document arrives. Where it is due within days of installation, as in Hillsborough, the intent is that nobody adjusts the poles afterwards.
What the document itself looks like
There is no statewide form. Monte Sereno and Malibu publish their own, which the surveyor completes and signs. Hillsborough, Mill Valley and Los Gatos accept a letter on the surveyor’s letterhead referencing the approved plan and the benchmark used. Calabasas and Tiburon will take a stamp and signature applied directly to the approved story pole plan. All three formats say the same thing, that the poles as built match the plan as approved, and the planning department files whichever one the policy names.
How we handle it
We coordinate a licensed land surveyor on every certified installation, which satisfies all 13 jurisdictions above, and we schedule the survey for the day after the install so the letter, form or stamped plan is ready inside the town’s window. Where you already have a project surveyor, we coordinate with them instead. Story pole certification. The full requirement set for each town, beyond certification, is in our town-by-town guide.
Send the plan set and address to hello@AllAmericanStoryPoles.com, or call or text (650) 613-1721 (Northern California) or (310) 980-2543 (Southern California).
Frequently asked questions
Do all California towns require story pole certification?
No. Most towns with a story pole policy do, but Los Altos Hills relies on staff inspection and photographs, Malibu requires it only for certain project types, and HOAs set their own rules.
Which towns accept an architect's certification?
Malibu, Burbank, Tiburon, Santa Barbara City and County, and Calabasas. Hillsborough explicitly does not; Mill Valley, Monte Sereno, Laguna Beach and Los Gatos require a surveyor or a surveying civil engineer.
What is on a story pole certification form?
Typically the project address and permit number, the plan date, the survey date, the benchmark and its elevation, the grade below the highest roof point and the highest roof elevation, and the licensed professional’s statement, stamp and signature. Monte Sereno’s form is a good example.
What happens if the poles are not certified on time?
The hearing is continued, in every town on this list, and in Malibu, Burbank and Los Gatos the notice is not even mailed until certification is complete.
Story pole requirements are set by each city, town, county or review board and change from time to time. This table reflects published policies as of September 2026. Confirm current requirements with the planning department before your submittal.
