Whether it’s in a city, town, village or on unincorporated county land, all private real estate (generally) is subject to local zoning and land use regulations, which control the types of uses and structures that may be developed on a piece of property. While zoning is a familiar concept to most, the regulatory structures and layers that dictate zoning – in the way we commonly think about it – are much less known. Understanding these layers is the best way to be certain about the zoning and land use regulations that apply to any given property, so here is a beginner’s guide to the hierarchy of these layers as they apply in California.

*Note: There are additional policy and environmental purposes relevant to each of the layers discussed below, but those considerations are outside the scope of this article, which focuses strictly on the types of zoning, land use and development standards.

In California, General Plans are the top authority for zoning and land use regulations at the City and County level. Under CA law, area plans, Specific Plans, local Zoning Codes, combining and overly zones and even planned developments are all required to be consistent with the local General Plan. If there is a conflict between the General Plan and any of those other regulations, the General Plan’s regulations will rule.

Because of this need for consistency, General Plans are normally, well, pretty general in their framework. They provide big-picture frameworks for their municipality and generally approach things from a city-wide perspective, rarely regulating land uses more specifically than on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis – like defining residential districts apart from business districts and industrial areas.  For the most part General Plans do not get more finite than general guidelines on land use categories, maximum densities and perhaps building heights – those details are mostly left to the regulation categories below.

As you might gather, General Plans are usually kept ‘general’ in nature like this, in part, to avoid frequent revisions that could otherwise be required by lower-level Zoning Code or area plan amendments. General Plans are longer-range documents and normally only updated every 5-10 years, and amending a General Plan outside of that cycle for a project requires significant processes for approval.

Specific Plans or Area Plans (terms are largely interchangeable) are usually neighborhood-scope-level planning documents. In the way that the General Plan may provide the zoning framework for neighborhoods in a certain city, a Specific Plan may provide the zoning framework within a specific neighborhood or defined geographic area with the intent to maintain a specific character, combination of uses, or appeal within its boundaries. Not all neighborhoods have Specific Plans, nor are they required for all neighborhoods, but Specific Plans can be initiated by both the local government or developer(s) with large scale plans for a local contiguous area or neighborhood.

Specific Plans can be thought of a little bit like a mini-General Plan, that zooms in on a smaller region with more detail.  When Specific Plans are established, they typically coincide with Zoning Code and map amendments that identify the plan’s boundaries and codify the land use and development regulations outlined in the Specific Plan.  This frequently also requires General Plan amendments, or at least General Plan map amendments, to identify these new planning areas.

In addition to the code changes, Specific Plans generally have their own design guidelines and standards which dictate the style of architecture desired, street and sidewalk designs, landscaping, and other more cosmetic or stylistic requirements for new development within the plan’s boundaries.  These types of details are not always presented in the Zoning Code, so it can be very useful to check to see if a property is within a Specific Plan area so that those types of issues can be identified.  There may also be assessment districts and additional fees specific to the plan area which can significantly impact a project budget.

The Zoning Code is the legal framework that works as the ‘bones’ of land use and development regulations in a City or County. The Zoning Code is also much more detailed in describing the different zoning districts, land uses/activities allowed in each district, development standards (setbacks, height, lot coverage, FAR, etc.) for structures within each district, and any other property-specific regulations that exist in the municipality. This is likely the layer of zoning that most people are familiar with, and it’s usually the most important set of regulations to consult for a development project. These are the codes that the Planning Department will be consulting and relying upon when reviewing an application for design review and other entitlements, and therefore they should be a primary focus.  The Zoning Code will also outline the processes and procedures required for the variety of approvals that may be needed for any given project, as well as the documents, reports, drawings, and other submittal requirements that will need to be prepared.

While Zoning Codes generally stand on their own and are reliable resources for most projects in most instances, it is important to consider them within the context of any applicable Specific Plan and/or General Plan. The regulations in a Specific Plan will typically take precedent over those in the Zoning Code if they are inconsistent, and a General Plan will rule in case of conflicts with either the Specific Plan or Zoning Code.  By design these types of conflicts should be relatively rare, but it is not uncommon for Zoning Code updates to lag behind the adoption of a new Specific Plan or General Plan amendment or update, so it is wise to check all of these layers of regulations to confirm which rules should or shouldn’t be relied upon.

Planned Developments (PDs) or Planned Use Developments (PUDs) (terms used interchangeably), are kind of like mini-Specific Plans for a multi-property or multi-structure development on a smaller scale (normally) than a Specific Plan (think city-block, office park, or shopping center).  Planned Developments (PDs) are born from Planned Development (PD) Zones, and essentially allow the developer to design and create their own zoning and design standards for their PD area.  PD Zones still must be consistent with the General Plan, and they are frequently codified in the Zoning Code as well – but not always. Especially for older PDs, or in areas where record keeping and code updates are not published on a reliable basis, it may take additional research to find the PD documents that detail the PD Zoning regulations for that project.  This may require searching City Ordinances and Resolutions, Development Agreements, City Council meeting agendas, or inquiring with the Records Department to locate a copy. In most cases the property owner or developer should have copies of the PD documents in their possession, but for older PDs locating those documents can sometimes require a deeper dive into the archives.

Finally, overlay and combining zones are secondary zoning districts (as opposed to the “base zoning district” described in the section above), which frequently exist for a specific purpose.  Some cities, like Oakland, for example, will use overlay zones to determine maximum height or density, and more recently to identify priority housing areas. Others may indicate historic districts or environmentally sensitive areas. Overlay and combining zones can be complimentary to the base zones in some cases but can also supersede the base zone in others, there’s not a clear line rule for how they are applied, so they must be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.  Overlay and combining zones are singled out here, because they are not always immediately apparent from a zoning map and may require review of additional maps and records to figure out if they apply to a property. Just one more sub-layer to pay attention to in the zoning structure.

This isn’t an exhaustive list of zoning and land-use considerations when it comes to a new development, addition, or change in use for a property, but if you progress through each of these layers of the zoning layer cake, you should have a full set of zoning and land-use regulations for the vast majority of properties and projects.