Is your lot in the Coastal Zone?
The City's ZIMAS parcel map shows whether a property is in the Coastal Zone and, if so, whether it falls in the Single Permit Jurisdiction, where the City issues coastal permits, or the Dual Permit Jurisdiction, where the California Coastal Commission also has to approve the project. The same profile flags coastal bluff and canyon bluff potential, as well as the parcel's biological resource potential rating.
Two local wrinkles matter. Properties in the Palisades Highlands are subject to Coastal Development Permit No. A-381-78, issued by the Coastal Commission in 1979, and rebuilds there that rely on it must follow its conditions. Some other coastal parcels lie within the boundaries of Categorical Exclusion Order E-79-8, which allows certain single-family construction to be reviewed ministerially.
The normal rule: a coastal development permit
Outside the emergency orders, a new or substantially rebuilt house in the Coastal Zone generally needs a coastal development permit unless it qualifies for an exemption or exclusion. In Los Angeles that is a discretionary City Planning application with environmental review, a public hearing, a local appeal period and a second level of appeal to the Coastal Commission. In the Dual Permit Jurisdiction, the owner needs a permit from both the City and the Commission.
City Planning's Palisades rebuild FAQ describes that coastal review as typically taking 18 to 24 months. That is the main reason the choice of path deserves attention before design is far along.
The Coastal Act's disaster replacement exemption
The Coastal Act has long exempted the replacement of a structure destroyed by a disaster, meaning a force beyond the owner's control. Under Public Resources Code section 30610(g), the replacement must conform to existing zoning, keep the same use, sit in the same location on the property, and not exceed the floor area, height or bulk of the destroyed structure by more than 10 percent. Bulk is measured as the total interior cubic volume.
In the Single Permit Jurisdiction, owners request this through a City Planning Coastal Exemption, which is subject to a 20 working day appeal period with the Coastal Commission. In the Dual Permit Jurisdiction, the request goes to the Commission's South Coast District office. Because the 10 percent limit applies to volume as well as floor area, a design with taller ceilings can fall outside it even when the footprint matches.
How the 2025 emergency orders changed the picture
Governor Newsom's Executive Order N-4-25, later clarified and expanded by orders including N-20-25 and N-29-25, suspended Coastal Act permit requirements for qualifying fire rebuilds. Following those orders, the City's Emergency Executive Order No. 1 states that its Eligible Projects in the Coastal Zone do not need a permit under the Coastal Act. That covers rebuilds that keep the same use and stay in substantially the same location within 110 percent of the prior footprint and height.
Emergency Executive Order No. 8, issued July 23, 2025, opened a second route for single-family homes in the Coastal Zone that are not like-for-like. A project qualifies if it complies with all objective zoning standards, replaces the same number of units apart from a new ADU, involves no subdivision, lot line adjustment or lot consolidation, keeps the required bluff setbacks, and will not significantly affect biological resources. On non-hillside R1 lots, EO8 applies the standard R1 height limit of 33 feet, or 28 feet where the top story has a roof slope under 25 percent. Qualifying homes may be larger than what burned, and they skip coastal review.
Bluff setbacks and biological review
Under EO8, all new development must stay at least 10 feet from the edge of a canyon bluff and 25 feet from the edge of a coastal bluff, including the house, pools, decks and new retaining walls. If ZIMAS shows bluff potential, a California licensed professional engineer or geologist prepares a bluff analysis that locates the edge, and the site plan has to show it. A lot on the bluff face itself cannot use EO8, and engineered bluffs may still require a setback near parks, trails or habitat.
Where ZIMAS rates biological resource potential as medium or high, a qualified biologist prepares a statement, and possibly a full report, under the City's Environmental Protection Measures. If impacts would remain significant even after mitigation, the project cannot use EO8 and has to qualify under EO1 or go through coastal review. Low-rated parcels need no additional biological review.
How coastal review fits with the building permit
EO1 and EO8 projects file building plans directly with LADBS, with City Planning clearing any bluff or biology analysis first. Projects that fit neither order need their coastal approval before the building permit: a Coastal Exemption, a Categorical Exclusion that is forwarded to the Commission for a 10 working day review, or a full coastal development permit. The Categorical Exclusion can cover a single-family house and, in some cases, basements and structurally related grading, but not pools, non-structural grading or new accessory structures.
If you held a coastal development permit or extension approved on or before February 13, 2025, it received an automatic three-year extension, which may let a design already in progress move forward.
Planning a coastal rebuild with us
We pull the ZIMAS profile at the start, identify the permit jurisdiction, bluff and biology flags, and compare what your goals would require under EO1, EO8 and a conventional coastal permit. When a bluff analysis or biologist's statement is needed, we bring those consultants in early so the house is sited correctly the first time. These orders are temporary and have been revised several times, so we confirm the current terms with City Planning and LADBS before your plans are submitted, and we recommend you do the same with a land use attorney if your lot raises legal questions.