California Coverage · San Diego County
San Diego County base maps & site data for designers
The existing-conditions base map and pre-design site analysis that normally takes a half-day across county GIS portals and hand-tracing into CAD — for any San Diego address, from La Jolla to the backcountry WUI, in about a minute.
What Lekua resolves in San Diego County
Every layer below is pulled at export time from county, state and national GIS sources the moment you enter an address — no manual tracing, no generic insets, and the sheet cites which source drew each layer.
SANDAG-hosted regional parcel boundary with APN, address, and lot area — the SanGIS JPA’s own data.
Fine 1–2 ft contours generated on-demand from the 1-meter USGS 3DEP elevation model — San Diego publishes no light vector contour service, so this is finer than anything available off the shelf.
SANDAG’s countywide building outlines (the SanGIS product, delineated from spring-2017 regional imagery against the parcel fabric — the sheet says so), with a hosted mirror behind them and national data for anything newer. No height column; heights come from the modeled ladder.
Encinitas (MC 30.16.010) has passed review and draws its envelope. The City of San Diego (SDMC §131.0431 Tables 131-04D–G), Escondido and Carlsbad (including its R-1 lot-width rule) are encoded and cited on the export but not yet drawn. Unincorporated county land resolves its §4810 designator and returns an honest null, because its front setbacks are measured from the road centerline.
USGS 3DEP lidar point clouds flown in 2014, 2015 and 2016 (the east county) cover the county: each structure’s roof is read from the lidar points inside its footprint and its base from bare earth around it, so the height is measured per building and the sheet names the flight, now a decade old. Where a record carries no height, the structure is labeled as having none rather than drawn at a confident wrong number.
CAL FIRE FHSZ severity with defensible-space perimeters drawn to San Diego’s stricter local rule — Zone 1 extends to 50 ft here, not the default 30 ft.
USDA SSURGO soil profile, historical rainfall, and modeled seasonal sun-hour heat maps for the parcel.
California natives matched to the site’s soil and microclimate, plus the serving water supplier’s lawn-replacement rebate, shown only while it was verified on the supplier’s own page within 60 days.
Drawn to San Diego’s stricter defensible-space rule
San Diego County extends defensible-space Zone 1 to 50 feet — beyond the state default — and much of the county’s eastern and northern edge sits in Very High severity zones. Lekua draws the perimeters to the local rule automatically and filters the plant palette to what each zone allows, so the first pass is already code-aware.
- Zone 1 drawn at San Diego’s 50-ft local requirement instead of the 30-ft state default.
- Zone 0 (0–5 ft ember-resistant) and Zone 2 perimeters drawn around every structure.
- Every recommended plant carries a defensible-space zone rating, with flammability from Las Pilitas and UCANR / CAL FIRE-aligned lists.
Zoning setbacks, by jurisdiction
Setbacks in San Diego are set per town, not countywide. Lekua resolves the parcel’s jurisdiction and zone code and encodes each jurisdiction’s adopted setback table, citation and all. Setback rings are drawn only after a table passes independent panel review — until then the export carries the code-cited values with an explicit “unverified” advisory instead of lines we can’t stand behind.
A native palette, enriched beyond the plant list
Start from the Calscape native plant database — then get the research-backed traits Calscape alone doesn’t put at your fingertips, matched to the parcel’s mapped soil, sun, rainfall, and microclimate. Hand a client a list checked against the code, climate-appropriate, and built to perform.
Flammability and defensible-space zone suitability from Las Pilitas burn-time research and UCANR / CAL FIRE-aligned fire-safe lists — not just a name on a list.
Slow / moderate / fast growth plus mature height and spread, so spacing and time-to-fill are realistic from day one.
Calscape cultivation and longevity guidance, so the palette reads for how it performs over 10–20 years, not just at install.
WUCOLS-aligned water-use ratings (for the MWELO budget) and pollinator / bird support scores on every species.
Plant data: Calscape / CNPS, enriched with Las Pilitas burn-time research, UCANR & CAL FIRE-aligned fire-safe lists, and WUCOLS water-use ratings.
Water suppliers
Main water suppliers in San Diego County: San Diego County Water Authority · Otay Water District · Helix Water District.
San Diego County base map FAQ
Are the building heights on a San Diego County base map measured or assumed?
Measured, wherever the county record carries one. USGS 3DEP lidar point clouds flown in 2014, 2015 and 2016 (the east county) cover the county: each structure’s roof is read from the lidar points inside its footprint and its base from bare earth around it, so the height is measured per building and the sheet names the flight, now a decade old. A structure whose record has no height is labeled as having none — the sheet prints an explicit no-data note instead of a plausible number, because a wrong ridge height is worse on a shade study than an admitted gap.
Can I get a CAD base map for a San Diego County parcel?
Yes. Enter any San Diego address and export a layered DXF (AutoCAD-compatible) with SANDAG parcel lines, SanGIS county building outlines, on-demand 1–2 ft contours, spot elevations, and zoning with code-cited setbacks — plus a designed PDF site report.
What contour interval is available in San Diego County?
San Diego publishes no light vector contour service, so Lekua generates fine 1–2 ft contours on-demand from the 1-meter USGS 3DEP elevation model — far finer than the 10-ft national fallback, which matters on canyon-rim and hillside lots.
Does it include zoning setbacks for San Diego jurisdictions?
Four setback tables are encoded with citations: Encinitas (passed review, envelope drawn), the City of San Diego (SDMC §131.0431), Escondido, and Carlsbad including its R-1 lot-width rule. Unincorporated county land resolves its §4810 designator and returns an honest null. Setback rings are drawn only after a table passes independent panel review; until then the export carries the code-cited values with an explicit “unverified” advisory and always labels the zone determination honestly.
How does it handle San Diego’s 50-ft Zone 1 rule?
Automatically. Defensible-space perimeters are drawn to the county’s stricter local requirement — Zone 1 extends to 50 ft instead of the 30-ft state default — and every recommended native is tagged with the zones it’s suited to.
Is the data current and reliable enough for submittals?
Layers are pulled live from county GIS, USGS, and CAL FIRE at export time, and any encoded setback table cites its source with a date. Everything is labeled “for planning reference — not for construction.” Verify against the current code and a stamped survey before submittal.
Start with a San Diego address
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