Los Angeles County — Specific Plans

Listed Specific Plans in Unincorporated Los Angeles County

The County Code adds the following plans, their maps, and their provisions by reference. § 22.400.040

District and Land-Use Frameworks Identified in Specific Plans

Specific Plans do not use one universal County district menu. The source materials identify different plan-specific frameworks, so applicants must use the exact plan governing the parcel.

Open Space/Conservation

The Santa Catalina Island Specific Plan identifies Open Space/Conservation as one of its five plan land-use districts. It is the plan’s actual district designation, not the Countywide OS zone; the source materials do not provide its permitted-use list, dimensional standards, or mapped location. § 22.46.080

Two Harbors Resort Village

The Santa Catalina Island Specific Plan identifies Two Harbors Resort Village as one of its five plan land-use districts. The plan’s land-use-regulation section establishes principal permitted uses, uses requiring other permits, and development standards by district, but the source materials do not state the district’s individual use list, setbacks, height, or parcel extent. § 22.46.080

Utilities and Industrial

The Santa Catalina Island Specific Plan identifies Utilities and Industrial as one of its five plan land-use districts. Its applicable purpose, typical permitted uses, dimensional standards, and location are not stated in the source materials; verify the adopted plan and map for the affected unincorporated parcel. § 22.46.080

Avalon Canyon Resort and Recreation

The Santa Catalina Island Specific Plan identifies Avalon Canyon Resort and Recreation as one of its five plan land-use districts. The plan also addresses vehicular and nonvehicular circulation and shoreline access, but no district-specific numerical development standards appear in the source materials. § 22.46.080

Organized Camps and Special Facilities

The Santa Catalina Island Specific Plan identifies Organized Camps and Special Facilities as one of its five plan land-use districts. The source materials confirm that each of the five districts has development standards and conditions, but do not establish this district’s individual permitted uses, lot dimensions, setbacks, or height. § 22.46.080

Studio Use

Within the Universal Studios Specific Plan, Studio Use is a land-use category rather than a Countywide zone. It covers the creation, production, distribution, and related exploitation of visual, print, and aural works, including production facilities, studio support facilities, ancillary support facilities, and related parking. No universal setback or height number for this category is stated in the source materials. § 22.408.050

Studio Office

Studio Office covers desk-based technical or nontechnical work associated with studio uses, including related conference rooms, reception, copying rooms, food service, child care, and fitness uses. It is distinct from Studio Use and from the plan’s separate Office category; verify the plan’s map and applicable floor-area limits for a particular project. § 22.408.050

Office

Office is the Universal Studios plan category for office uses other than Studio Office. The source materials establish the category but do not state a numeric height, floor-area, yard, or parking standard for it. § 22.408.050

Hotel

Hotel includes guest rooms and suites, meeting and banquet space, lobbies, retail, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, offices, fitness rooms, pools, spas, salons, ancillary entertainment, parking, and other hotel amenities within the Universal Studios plan. Whether a proposal qualifies must be tested against the plan’s detailed requirements, including any applicable alcohol-use rules. §§ 22.408.050, 22.408.040

Entertainment Use

Entertainment Use includes public-facing entertainment and recreation, such as the Universal Studio Tour, events, Theme Park activity, entertainment attractions, restaurants, retail, and support facilities. It is a plan-specific category; its dimensional standards are not found in the source materials. § 22.408.050

Entertainment Retail Use

Entertainment Retail Use includes retail and restaurant uses in CityWalk and related support facilities as permitted by the Universal Studios Specific Plan. This is not a general County commercial-zone label, and the source materials do not establish a stand-alone numeric development standard for it. § 22.408.050

Amphitheater

Amphitheater is a Universal Studios plan category for a public-assembly or entertainment venue, including theatrical performances, concerts, lectures, circuses, sporting events, and similar events. The source materials do not state the applicable capacity, height, setback, or floor-area limit. § 22.408.050

Universal Studios Specific Plan: Overrides That Matter

The Universal Studios Specific Plan expressly supersedes or modifies numerous older Title 22 subjects within its plan area. These are plan-area rules only, not standards for all unincorporated Los Angeles County. § 22.408.040

• The plan can control heights, uses, parking, noise, lighting, grading, signage, alcohol sales and service, and oak-tree protected-zone matters when its rule differs from Title 22. § 22.408.040
• It supersedes specified County sign rules, so project signs must be evaluated under the plan rather than assumed Countywide signage standards. § 22.408.040
• It supersedes designated oak-tree removal, replacement, and protected-zone rules; confirm whether the plan provision replaces the otherwise applicable Oak Tree Permits requirement. § 22.408.040
• It supersedes the identified front, side, and rear yard rules, making the plan—not generic development standards—the controlling source for those yards. § 22.408.040
• It modifies the applicability of County parking, green-building, drought-tolerant landscaping, and low-impact-development provisions. § 22.408.040
• A Project includes construction, additions, structural alteration, or a land/building use change requiring a grading, foundation, building, or land-use permit that results in a net floor-area increase or land-use-category change. § 22.408.050

Coastal Specific Plans

The County separately identifies the coastal Santa Catalina Island and Marina del Rey Specific Plans. § 22.46.040

For Marina del Rey, the plan is the principal implementation mechanism for the Marina del Rey Land Use Plan and establishes communitywide design standards, land-use-category standards, parcel-specific guidelines, and a coastal improvement fund. § 22.46.1000 Development is regulated through the SP zone and the plan’s development zones, categories, and parcel-specific requirements; when plan provisions conflict with Title 22, the plan prevails. § 22.46.1030

Marina del Rey’s parcel-specific guidelines and conditions can supersede its broader category rules, and the more restrictive document controls if there is a conflict among the plan standards. A modification also requires the applicable variance procedure and any required coastal-development-permit findings. § 22.46.1190

Related County Rules

A Specific Plan can interact with overlay districts, Community Standards Districts, Density Bonus & Inclusionary Housing, and California ADU law, but the plan’s own text decides whether and how it changes the otherwise applicable local rule. §§ 22.46.030, 22.300.020

For new construction, Specific Plan compliance does not eliminate the need to satisfy the applicable California Building Standards Code requirements. The source materials identify Title 26 as the County Building Code reference for the Newhall Ranch plan, but do not establish permit procedures or technical building standards. § 22.406.030

Information Gaps

The source materials do not provide the adopted maps, parcel boundaries, detailed use tables, numeric setbacks, height limits, lot coverage, floor-area ratios, parking ratios, fees, or application forms for most listed Specific Plans. Verify with the jurisdiction and the adopted plan document before relying on a plan designation for an unincorporated Los Angeles County parcel.

Checklist

• Confirm that the property is in an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County, rather than an incorporated city with its own code.
• Identify whether the parcel is within a mapped Specific Plan area and which named plan governs it. § 22.400.040
• Review the plan’s map, land-use category or district, and parcel-specific provisions before applying underlying-zone rules. §§ 22.46.030, 22.46.1190
• Determine whether the plan expressly supersedes or modifies the relevant use, height, yard, parking, sign, grading, lighting, or oak-tree rule. § 22.408.040
• For a compact lot subdivision, apply any Specific Plan yard standard to the equivalent perimeter yard. § 22.46.030
• Evaluate whether a Housing Permit, density bonus, or inclusionary-housing provision can waive or modify a plan regulation. § 22.46.030
• For an ADU or JADU, compare the Specific Plan with the County ADU rule and verify which provision controls. § 22.46.030
• For Marina del Rey, review parcel-specific guidelines and coastal-development-permit findings in addition to category standards. § 22.46.1190

Risks & Ambiguities

Plain-English Summary

If your unincorporated Los Angeles County property is inside a Specific Plan, do not start with a generic zone standard. Start with the named plan and its map: it may set a different allowed use, yard, parking, or design rule, while ordinary Title 22 zoning fills the gaps where the plan says nothing. § 22.46.030

Source References

• Los Angeles County Zoning Code, list of Specific Plans: § 22.400.040
• Los Angeles County Zoning Code, Specific Plan administration and exceptions: § 22.46.030
• Los Angeles County Zoning Code, organization and content of Specific Plans: § 22.46.080
• Los Angeles County Zoning Code, Coastal Specific Plans: § 22.46.040
• Los Angeles County Zoning Code, Marina del Rey purpose and land-use relationship: §§ 22.46.1000, 22.46.1030, 22.46.1190
• Los Angeles County Zoning Code, Universal Studios authority, scope, and definitions: §§ 22.408.040, 22.408.050
• Los Angeles County Zoning Code, Northlake and Newhall Ranch plan references: §§ 22.404.010, 22.404.030, 22.406.010, 22.406.030
• Los Angeles County Zoning Code, La Vina plan references: §§ 22.402.010, 22.402.030
• Los Angeles County Zoning Code, Specific Plan zone designation: § 22.26.010
• Los Angeles County Zoning Code, Northlake/Newhall Ranch CSD exemption: § 22.312.080