Zoning & entitlements
Conditional use permit (CUP)
A discretionary, findings-based permit allowing a use the zoning district permits only conditionally — with attached conditions that bind operations.
Definition
Zoning ordinances sort uses into permitted, prohibited and conditionally permitted; a conditional use permit authorizes the third category after a noticed hearing before a zoning administrator, board of zoning adjustment or planning commission, within the framework of the state zoning law.
Approval turns on findings set by the local code — typically compatibility and no detriment to public health, safety or welfare — and arrives with conditions on hours, operations, parking or design. CUPs are discretionary, so CEQA applies, and most run with the land.
Why it matters in an underwrite
If multifamily is only conditionally permitted on a site, the CUP calendar and its denial risk are the underwrite: months of hearings plus CEQA, and conditions that can trim NOI — parking, ground-floor use, operational limits — survive into operations. Before pricing that risk, check whether a state streamlining statute (SB 35/SB 423, AB 2011, the density bonus) supersedes the CUP requirement entirely.
Sources & related guides
See also
See the term in the law itself
Read the controlling text in the Code Library, or ask the AI how it applies to your project.
Last reviewed 2026-07-29. General information, not legal advice.