Zoning & entitlements
Entitlement
The bundle of discretionary land-use approvals a project needs before building permits — the process that moves a site from raw to shovel-ready.
Definition
"Entitlements" are the land-use approvals a project must assemble before building permits: general plan amendments, rezonings, use permits, variances, tentative maps, design or site plan review, and the CEQA clearance attached to them — all framed by the state planning and zoning law.
Deals price the pipeline in stages — raw land, entitled (discretionary approvals granted), and RTI (building permits ready to issue). The Permit Streamlining Act disciplines only the tail of the process: its clocks start once an application is complete and CEQA review ends.
Why it matters in an underwrite
Entitlement is where land value is manufactured: an approved map and use permit can move a parcel's price by multiples of its raw basis, because the buyer sheds approval risk. The cost side is carry, consultants and time — so an entitlement audit at acquisition, listing exactly which approvals the project needs and which state statute can bypass each one, is the highest-leverage diligence item on infill deals.
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.