Zoning & entitlements
Discretionary review
Approval requiring an agency's judgment — CUPs, variances, subjective design review — which triggers CEQA, noticed hearings, and appeals.
Definition
Review is discretionary when the agency may shape or deny a project based on judgment rather than fixed standards — conditional use permits, variances, tentative maps and subjective design review are the common forms. Discretionary approvals are CEQA "projects," carry noticed public hearings under the state zoning law, and are appealable both administratively and in court.
The Permit Streamlining Act bounds the timeline: 30 days to determine an application complete, then action deadlines that run from completion of CEQA review.
Why it matters in an underwrite
Discretion is where entitlement risk lives: 12–36 months of carry, redesign cycles, and a denial or appeal point at every hearing. For housing projects the exposure is capped — the Housing Accountability Act limits denial grounds to objective standards, and SB 330 caps hearings on compliant projects at five — but every discretionary layer a site avoids is direct schedule savings. Count them during diligence.
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.