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Fresno County

Fresno County Public Works and Planning Department, Development Services Division

In short

Fresno County Public Works and Planning Department, Development Services Division issues 5 permits we publish for Fresno County, last verified 2026-10-02. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.

What this agency issues

Permits required, with issuing agency, fee, renewal term and the date each record was last verified against its source
Building Construction Permitonly if it applies to youFresno County Public Works and Planning Department, Development Services DivisionMinimum charge $166.28 (FY2026-27); amounts above the minimum are calculated from construction valuation under the county's own adopted Building Permit and Plan Check fee schedule.per project2026-10-02
Conditional Use Permit — Unclassifiedonly if it applies to youFresno County Public Works and Planning Department, Development Services Division$10,268.02 per application (FY2026-27)per application2026-10-02
Conditional Use Permit — Classified (Bars and Alcoholic Beverage Drinking Places)only if it applies to youFresno County Public Works and Planning Department, Development Services Division$5,142.45 per application (FY2026-27)per application2026-10-02
Director Review and Approval — Residentialonly if it applies to youFresno County Public Works and Planning Department, Development Services Division$1,767.05 per application (FY2026-27)per application2026-10-02
Site Plan Review (Commercial/Non-Residential)only if it applies to youFresno County Public Works and Planning Department, Development Services Division$3,957.29 base (under 1 acre) plus $1,978.64 per acre over 1 acre, for FY2026-27.per project2026-10-02

Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.

About each permit

Building Construction Permit

This permit applies only to construction or alteration work in the UNINCORPORATED AREA of Fresno County — each of the 15 incorporated cities runs its own building department and issues its own permit for work inside city limits instead, a different scope from Environmental Health's countywide reach documented above. The Development Services Division's Building Permit and Plan Check fee schedule sets a minimum charge of $166.28 for FY2026-27, with amounts above that minimum calculated from the project's construction valuation, the standard valuation-based method used across California building departments. The schedule is published under the Master Schedule of Fees, Charges, and Recovered Costs, Section 2500 (Development Services), adopted under Ord. #24-005 on May 23, 2024, with fee columns that escalate by fiscal year; the FY2026-27 column is the one currently in effect. Any of the ten tracked industries building or remodeling space in the unincorporated area needs this permit before work begins.

Conditional Use Permit — Unclassified

This is the UNINCORPORATED-AREA-ONLY, general-mechanism Conditional Use Permit for a proposed use that is not individually listed ('classified') in the county's zoning tables for the zone in question — a case-by-case determination that depends on the specific use proposed, rather than a fee tied to one named industry the way the Classified Bars/Drinking-Places CUP above is. Any of the ten tracked industries could be required to obtain this permit if it proposes a use in the unincorporated area that the applicable zone's table does not separately classify. The Unclassified tier costs $10,268.02 for FY2026-27, set under the county's Master Schedule of Fees, Charges, and Recovered Costs, Ord. #24-005 — a materially higher fee than the Classified CUP tier used for a specifically listed use such as a bar. This record is distinct from the 'Amendment application with concurrent CUP' fee line in the same schedule, which prices a CUP filed together with a zoning-text or zoning-map amendment, a different and pricier product not covered by this record.

Conditional Use Permit — Classified (Bars and Alcoholic Beverage Drinking Places)

This Conditional Use Permit applies only in the UNINCORPORATED AREA of Fresno County and only to the specific zoning-classified use 'Bars and Alcoholic Beverage Drinking Places.' The county's own Zoning Ordinance, Division 6, Chapter 812.2, Table 2-6, shows that ordinary on-site and off-site alcohol sales — a restaurant serving beer or wine, a liquor store's off-site sales — are a permitted use by right in the C-1 and C-2 commercial zones and do not themselves trigger this CUP; the CUP requirement, under Chapter 842.5 and standard 834.4.080, attaches specifically to a business operating as a bar or drinking place. Because 'Bars and Alcoholic Beverage Drinking Places' is a classified (individually listed) use in the zone table rather than an unclassified one, its fee is the Classified CUP tier: $5,142.45 for FY2026-27, set under the county's Master Schedule of Fees, Charges, and Recovered Costs, Ord. #24-005. This is a different, lower fee than the Unclassified CUP tier, and the two are listed as separate records because they apply to different categories of use.

Director Review and Approval — Residential

This permit applies only in the UNINCORPORATED AREA of Fresno County, where the fee schedule's own line item for the Residential Director Review and Approval (DRA) is described as covering 'day care facilities (in-home), home beauty shops, and other uses secondary to residential use.' An in-home childcare operation or a home-based beauty/salon business run out of a residence in the unincorporated area needs this review before operating, priced at $1,767.05 per application for FY2026-27 under the county's Master Schedule of Fees, Charges, and Recovered Costs, Ord. #24-005. A business inside one of the 15 incorporated cities instead follows that city's own home-occupation or zoning-review process rather than this county DRA. A commercial or industrial (non-residential) DRA is priced separately under the same schedule and is not the figure recorded here.

Site Plan Review (Commercial/Non-Residential)

This review applies only in the UNINCORPORATED AREA of Fresno County, for commercial or other non-residential construction and site changes — a retail store, restaurant, auto-repair shop, fitness studio, or salon building new space or materially changing an existing site in the unincorporated area needs Director-approved Site Plan Review under the zoning ordinance's Chapter 854.5, which applies even to a use that is otherwise permitted by right in its zone. The fee is $3,957.29 for a site under 1 acre, plus $1,978.64 for each additional acre, for FY2026-27, set under the county's Master Schedule of Fees, Charges, and Recovered Costs, Ord. #24-005. A business inside one of the 15 incorporated cities instead follows that city's own site-plan or design-review process rather than this county review.

Contact

Jurisdiction
Fresno County
Phone
(559) 600-4560 (Building Inspection); (559) 600-4570 (Plan Check); (559) 600-4540 (Zoning)

Contact details are taken from the agency’s own site or its published fee schedule. Where we have not verified a phone number we leave it blank rather than guess.

Sources

Every fee and term above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.

  1. Building & Safety — Development Services Division landing page, confirming the unincorporated-area-only scope and linking the current fee scheduleFresno County Public Works and Planning Department, Development Services Division · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-02
  2. Fresno County Zoning Ordinance, Division 6, Chapter 812.2 ('Commercial Zones'), Table 2-6, 'Final Zoning Ordinance' (March 2026) — shows on-site and off-site alcohol sales as a permitted use by right in C-1/C-2 zones and 'Bars and Alcoholic Beverage Drinking Places' as requiring a Conditional Use Permit under Chapter 842.5, standard 834.4.080Fresno County Public Works and Planning Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-02
  3. Master Schedule of Fees, Charges, and Recovered Costs — Section 2500: Development Services, Ord. #24-005 (adopted 5/23/24), FY2026-27 column (Building Construction Permit, Conditional Use Permit, Director Review and Approval, Site Plan Review)Fresno County Public Works and Planning Department, Development Services Division · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-02

Other offices serving Fresno County

The full permit list for this jurisdiction

Industry permit lists that include this agency

California jurisdictions

Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.