Upon recommendation of its planning commission, each community’s elected legislative body implements its comprehensive general plan through zoning, subdivision and other ordinances.

While a comprehensive general plan has a community- wide perspective, zoning is applied lot-by-lot. Zoning ordinances carry the weight of local law.

The distribution of residential, commercial, industrial and other zones is based on the pattern of land uses established by a community's comprehensive general plan.

For each land parcel in each district, zoning ordinances spell out requirements and standards for uses of land and buildings, the height and size of buildings, the size of lots and yards around buildings, the supply of parking spaces, the size and type of signs and fences and other requirements and restrictions.

Zoning ordinances assign each piece of property to a zone which describes the rules under which that land may be used. These classifications, such as "R-1" for single-family residences or "C-1" for neighborhood commercial uses, cover in specific terms the range of uses that are allowed in the comprehensive general plan.

Zoning maps illustrate how all uses are distributed geographically. Land may be put only to those uses allowed by the zoning designation assigned to it.

For example, if a commercial zone does not allow five-story office buildings, then no such building could be built on land with a commercial zone designation.

Overlay zones provide an additional layer of standards. They are often set up to protect natural and cultural areas such as historic districts, residential enclaves, wetlands, water fronts and scenic views.

Assembly Bill 1268 which the California legislature passed in 2004 allows the use of form-based zoning codes. While traditional zoning creates zones that allow certain building uses, form-based code is more flexible about building uses in each zone and more stringent about design elements such as architecture, landscaping and ways of making streets and sidewalks bike and pedestrian friendly.

In most cities and counties, real estate development that conforms to uses allowed by zoning ordinances does not require a public hearing. Increasingly, however, communities are requiring a public review of a project's design before a building permit is issued.

Some types of land use are only allowed upon approval of a conditional use permit (also called a CUP or special use permit) after a public hearing. These uses might include community facilities (i.e., hospitals or schools), public buildings or grounds (i.e., fire stations or parks), temporary or hard-to-classify uses (i.e., Christmas tree sales) or uses with potentially significant environmental impacts (i.e., hazardous chemical storage or surface mining).

The local zoning ordinance specifies the uses for which a conditional use permit is required, the zones they may be allowed in and the public hearing procedure.

A CUP imposes special development requirements to insure that the use will not be detrimental to its surroundings. Requirements might include, for example, additional landscaping, soundproofing, limited hours of operation, additional parking or road improvements. A CUP does not rezone the land.

Developers also must satisfy public standards and requirements for development expressed in subdivision regulations and building codes.

Via the internet, you can review California's planning and zoning law and the zoning ordinances for any city or county in California.

Planning and zoning law of the California Government Code

California zoning ordinances by city

California zoning ordinances by county