Could battery storage work on your San Bernardino County land?

Identify the authority for the parcel and the whole route

County Planning describes its work as covering development in the county’s unincorporated areas. If your land is inside a city or town, have the company check that authority’s process. A county address alone does not settle who reviews the proposal.

The county planning page provides a zoning lookup by parcel number, but its disclaimer says the applicant must independently verify the information for the specific project. Ask for the applicable zoning, land-use designation and any area or community-plan requirements in writing.

Have the developer identify the review path for the actual battery use, size and layout. The county project information sheet describes conditional and minor use permits for certain uses. Those descriptions are not a finding that your battery proposal qualifies for either category.

An equipment site and its access or electrical route can involve different owners or authorities. Include every part of the project in the discussion. A plan that ends at your boundary leaves the off-site rights and permissions unresolved.

Reference: San Bernardino County: planning and parcel zoning lookup · San Bernardino County: project information sheet, reviewed pages 1–4

Read the owner certification with the plans beside it

The posted property owner certificate calls for all record owners to sign. For land held by an organization, it asks the signer to state their position and provide supporting documents. A person signing under a power of attorney must identify the people represented and attach the notarized authority described in the form.

The certificate asks for the project parcel numbers and adjoining parcels under the same ownership or beneficial control. Have the company explain why each parcel is listed and whether the request affects land you intend to keep outside the project.

Signing is more than acknowledging a conversation. The form certifies the application information and says additional materials may be needed. Review the application, drawing and attachments first, resolve anything you cannot verify, and keep the complete signed package.

The same form describes applicant responsibility for actual-cost charges and for defending and reimbursing the county in connection with challenges to an approval. Ask your adviser to review the roles you would take on. Do not assume that being the landowner, applicant, agent and financially responsible party all mean the same thing.

Reference: San Bernardino County: property owner certification, revised January 2025 · San Bernardino County: project information sheet, reviewed pages 1–4

Name the party paying review costs, including later charges

The county’s financially responsible party agreement identifies the business or individual responsible for the application’s fees and costs. It covers county staff and consultant work paid through a trust account. Ask who will be named, who receives the invoices and whether you are being asked to make that commitment yourself.

The initial deposit is not a fixed total price. The agreement allows further charges and consultant deposits, and says processing can stop if invoices are not paid. The project information sheet also describes additional deposits when an actual-cost account runs short.

Under the agreement, a remaining balance may be refunded to the named financially responsible party regardless of who supplied the money. If you are contributing funds, settle how payments and any refund are handled between you and the company before money is deposited.

The agreement includes responsibility for legal challenges to county approvals, and says that part survives termination. It also addresses changes of applicant or property ownership and requires new paperwork. Have an adviser review those provisions rather than rely on a promise that a future buyer will simply take over.

Put cost responsibility, withdrawal and changes of company in the land agreement as well. Ask who pays if the proposal is redesigned, denied or abandoned, what reports you receive, and which bills or obligations could remain. Confirm the current agency requirements and charges for the actual application.

Reference: San Bernardino County: financially responsible party information and agreement · San Bernardino County: project information sheet, reviewed pages 1–4

Show retained access, drainage and plants in the layout

The county site-plan checklist asks the applicant to distinguish structures that stay, are removed or are proposed. Mark your home, working areas, existing uses and access you need to retain. Ask how each remains usable during construction and throughout operation.

The checklist calls for rights of way, easements and road dedications, as well as loading movements and emergency vehicle access. Ask for delivery routes, turning areas and any widened entrance on the plan. Agree who maintains roads, repairs damage and controls gates; a drawing does not create private access rights.

The plan guidance also covers grading, drainage courses, runoff directions and drainage basins. Discuss where earthwork will occur and whether water will be redirected toward land you retain or a neighbor. A dry-looking site is not a reason to omit the drainage review.

Plant and tree information is part of the county checklist. The Joshua tree acknowledgment linked in the current handouts considers trees on adjoining parcels as well as the project parcel, and the construction area rather than just the permanent equipment footprint.

That acknowledgment assigns identification, measurement and required CDFW approvals to the owner under its stated terms. Ask the developer to arrange the appropriate review and explain the findings before you sign. The form is not clearance to remove plants, and this guide does not determine which plants or wildlife approvals apply to your land.

The checklist requests power poles, hydrants and other critical infrastructure. Showing a nearby line does not establish that a battery can connect. Ask what studies, upgrades and separate rights are still needed for charging and discharging.

Reference: San Bernardino County: project site plan and elevations checklist, June 2025 · San Bernardino County: Joshua tree acknowledgment linked in current handouts

Separate early feedback, a complete application and an approval

The county offers optional pre-application development review. Its handout says this gives staff a chance to comment on a proposal and does not lead to a project approval. Ask the developer what questions it would take to that review and whether a different process applies to your proposal.

The pre-application sheet calls for a description and a plan showing streets, boundaries, existing and proposed features, drainage and protected plants. That is a useful reason to resolve the basic layout first. Confirm the current service and any charges rather than assume a preliminary meeting supplies permission to proceed.

The current handouts explain that uploaded documents are checked, fees are invoiced and the application is routed to a planner once payment and necessary materials are received. Those are processing steps. A portal record or invoice is not an approval to install batteries.

The review-steps sheet separates completeness review from technical and environmental review, a decision or hearing, and an appeal period. Revisions may be needed after the application is complete. Its timeframes are estimates, not a promised battery schedule.

If the company wants a long option period, ask which milestones it needs, what evidence you receive and how extensions are paid for. Also settle what happens if studies change the area, access or electrical route. Keep planning approval, other required permissions and a usable grid connection as separate questions.

Reference: San Bernardino County: optional pre-application development review · San Bernardino County: current application handouts and filing steps · San Bernardino County: planning application review steps, April 2025

Start a property conversation without filing county paperwork

You can use the form on this page to send Sunland your contact details, property location and what you know about the land. Tell us about shared access, existing uses, known easements or plants that may affect a layout. You do not need to order county application drawings before making that inquiry.

If you know the parcel number and approximate acreage, include them. If you are interested in only part of the property, explain which area and what you want to preserve. Do not guess technical details or represent that the county has approved a use.

An inquiry does not appoint an application agent, name you as the party responsible for county fees or authorize a company to enter the property. Formal paperwork, site visits and any land agreement would be separate decisions.

Before committing land, ask for the proposed term, payments, construction area, rights outside the battery fence and responsibility for removal and restoration. Have the final layout and obligations reviewed so that the proposal reflects what you actually intend to offer.