Manhattan Beach, California Zoning Map
Zoning, overlays and hazards on every parcel — and an answer to what the code actually lets you build. Compiled from current zoning data for all 37 districts.
Prefer to browse? Open the full Manhattan Beach map ↗
What's in the Manhattan Beach dataset
Every field below is available for any Manhattan Beach parcel, on the map and through the AI.
Zoning
- District code & full name
- Parcel boundary & APN
- All 37 districts mapped
Building controls
- Maximum building height
- Floor area ratio (FAR)
- Front setback
- Side setback
Overlays, hazards & AI
- Flood hazard & environmental layers
- Ask the AI about any parcel
- Powered by live parcel data
Where uses are permitted in Manhattan Beach
Share of Manhattan Beach's zoned land where each use is permitted.
- Single-family
- 71.27%
- Multi-family
- 15.23%
- Retail
- 88.70%
- Eating & drinking
- 27.25%
- Office
- 32.91%
- Hotel / motel
- 7.72%
- Industrial
- 8.22%
- Storage & warehouses
- 15.52%
Manhattan Beach, California Zoning Districts: What Do They Mean?
Zoning districts are areas regulated by specific laws that determine land use, building types, and development rules. Each district below shows its zone type and which uses it permits.
| Zone Code | Category | Area | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
CC Community Commercial | - | 42 ac | Standards & uses → |
CD-CZ Downtown Commercial Coastal Zone | - | 13.7 ac | Standards & uses → |
CG General Commercial | - | 22.3 ac | Standards & uses → |
CG-D8 General Commercial Design Review Sepulveda Corridor | - | 33.1 ac | Standards & uses → |
Showing 4 of 37 districts
Start from what you're trying to build
Each one runs against the live Manhattan Beach dataset and returns the districts, standards and approvals involved.
What should developers know about Manhattan Beach zoning?
Manhattan Beach is a built-out coastal Los Angeles County city where the single-family fabric dominates: the RS (Residential Single Family) district alone covers more than 1,000 acres, dwarfing every other category and signaling that the bulk of the city is mapped for detached homes on established lots. Layered on top of that base is a dense vocabulary of coastal overlays - districts such as RM-CZ, RH-CZ, CD-CZ and OS-CZ carry the Coastal Zone designation, which means Coastal Act review and a Coastal Development Permit sit between you and many beachside projects. For developers, the practical takeaway is that supply is constrained by both geography and a fine-grained set of design-review and coastal layers rather than by raw land.
Multifamily opportunity is narrow and concentrated. The RM and RH families (Residential Medium and High Density, including their coastal and design-review variants) plus the Residential Planned Development (RPD) and Senior Citizen (RSC) districts form the small pocket of by-right density, while commercial activity runs along the CC, CG, CL and Downtown Commercial Coastal (CD-CZ) corridors. Several commercial districts carry a Residential Overlay (ROD) - for example CG-ROD and CL-ROD - that opens the door to housing above or alongside retail. Design Review overlays (the D-series, including the Sepulveda Corridor D8 and Rosecrans D1) attach discretionary aesthetic review to specific corridors.
Building controls in Manhattan Beach span the full regulatory toolkit - FAR, lot, density, coverage, pervious-surface, lot-width, height, and front/side/rear setback controls all apply - so feasibility here is rarely a single-metric question. Where a coastal overlay is present, expect a second discretionary track on top of the base-district standards. This is pre-development intelligence, not legal advice - verify with the local planning department before acquisition.
Manhattan Beach zoning: frequently asked questions
Which Manhattan Beach districts actually allow multifamily housing?
Multifamily is limited to the Residential Medium and High Density families (RM, RH and their coastal/design-review variants such as RM-CZ and RH-CZ), the Residential Planned Development (RPD) district, and the Residential Senior Citizen (RSC) district. Several commercial corridors also carry a Residential Overlay District (ROD) - CG-ROD, CL-ROD, PD-ROD and CG-D8-ROD - which permit residential alongside commercial uses. Outside these, the city is overwhelmingly mapped for detached single-family use.
What does the Coastal Zone designation mean for a project here?
Districts with the -CZ suffix (RM-CZ, RH-CZ, CD-CZ, CNE-CZ, OS-CZ, PS-CZ and others) fall within the Coastal Zone, which triggers California Coastal Act review and typically a Coastal Development Permit. This adds a discretionary approval layer and design scrutiny on top of the underlying district standards, so coastal parcels should be underwritten for a longer, less certain entitlement path.
Where is commercial and mixed-use development focused?
Commercial activity is organized into Community (CC), General (CG), Local (CL) and Downtown Coastal (CD-CZ) commercial districts, with North End Commercial (CNE) along the coast. The Sepulveda Corridor is specifically governed by the CG-D8 design-review district. Mixed-use potential is greatest where a Residential Overlay (ROD) is attached to a general commercial district.
How do the Design Review (D) overlays affect entitlement?
The numbered D-series overlays - including the D8 Sepulveda Corridor and the D1 Rosecrans Avenue districts - subject projects to discretionary design review beyond the base zoning. Expect architectural and site-design conditions and a longer approval timeline on parcels carrying these suffixes, which is material to both schedule and cost assumptions.
Is there room for larger planned projects in a built-out city?
The Planned Development (PD) and Residential Planned Development (RPD) districts are the primary vehicles for assembling larger or more flexible projects, since most of the city is locked into established single-family lots under the RS district. These planned districts, together with the Industrial Park (IP) zone, represent the main non-single-family land available for repositioning or ground-up work.
California zoning maps
Analyze any Manhattan Beach parcel in 60 seconds
Zoning, overlays, hazards, and what the code actually allows - in one place.
Zoning data is pre-development intelligence, not legal advice. Verify with the Manhattan Beach planning department before acquisition or design.