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Kern County

Kern County Planning and Natural Resources Department

In short

Kern County Planning and Natural Resources Department issues 7 permits we publish for Kern 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
Home Occupation Permitonly if it applies to youKern County Planning and Natural Resources Department$52 flat, one-time (code COP-006), per the Land Development Services Fee Schedule effective 1/1/2025runs with the property; Kern County Code Ch. 19.94 states no renewal requirement2026-10-02
Conditional Use Permit (Veterinary Hospital / Contractor's Storage Yard)only if it applies to youKern County Planning and Natural Resources Department$1,456.00 Conditional Use Permit fee (code PIM-002) plus a $350.00 Electronic Permitting Maintenance fee applied to discretionary permits (code POG-003), per the Land Development Services Fee Schedule effective 1/1/2025. A $192.00 County Counsel fee and/or a Fire Department review fee may apply to some project types under the same schedule's own notes.one-time per application; the underlying use then runs under the conditions the permit imposes2026-10-02
Zone Changeonly if it applies to youKern County Planning and Natural Resources Department$2,080.00 minimum (code PIM-001); the final fee may exceed this minimum depending on the project's scope, per the Land Development Services Fee Schedule effective 1/1/2025.one-time per application2026-10-02
Zoning Compliance Review — Title 5 Business License Companion Feeonly if it applies to youKern County Planning and Natural Resources Department$140.00 for a new Title 5 license zoning review (code COP-015); $62.00 for a renewal zoning review (code COP-R15), per the Land Development Services Fee Schedule effective 1/1/2025.per application; recurs annually alongside the Title 5 license renewal2026-10-02
Large Family Day Care Home Permitonly if it applies to youKern County Planning and Natural Resources Department$83–$260 per application: $83.00 if no hearing is requested (code COP-012), $260.00 if a hearing is held (code PIM-031), per the Land Development Services Fee Schedule effective 1/1/2025permit runs with the use2026-10-02
Zone Varianceonly if it applies to youKern County Planning and Natural Resources Department$1,352 one-time per application (code PIM-003), per the Land Development Services Fee Schedule effective 1/1/2025one-time per application2026-10-02
Liquor License — Determination of Public Convenience or Necessityonly if it applies to youKern County Planning and Natural Resources Department$1,123.00 for a full Determination of Public Convenience or Necessity (code PIM-018); a $281.00 preliminary review option is also available, per the Land Development Services Fee Schedule effective 1/1/2025. This county fee is separate from the state alcohol license itself: the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control's own fee schedule, effective January 1, 2026, lists a $1,135.00 application fee for a Type 41 (on-sale beer/wine, bona fide eating place) or Type 20 (off-sale beer/wine) license, and a $7,515.00 application fee for a Type 47 (on-sale general, bona fide eating place) license.one-time per qualifying ABC application2026-10-02

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

Home Occupation Permit

Kern County Code §19.94.020(C) permits a home-based 'barber or cosmetologist, one (1) chair or booth only,' limited to manicurist, esthetician, electrologist, or hair stylist/colorist practice, as a qualifying home occupation in unincorporated Kern County. Section 19.94.030 excludes a restaurant or catering business, a veterinary clinic or hospital, car or small-engine repair, and a full-service barbershop or beauty parlor beyond the one-chair exemption from home-occupation status, meaning this permit applies to the tracked industries only in the narrow one-chair salon case. The flat fee is $52.00 (code COP-006), per the Land Development Services Fee Schedule effective 1/1/2025, and the permit runs with the property rather than on a stated renewal cycle, since Kern County Code §§19.94.050-.080 contain no renewal or expiration language.

Conditional Use Permit (Veterinary Hospital / Contractor's Storage Yard)

In Kern County's General Commercial (C-2) District, Kern County Code §19.32.020 permits veterinary care of household pets by right provided there are no outside kennels, and permits a restaurant, coffee shop, salon, fitness studio (health club), retail store, pet store, and auto-repair, auto-body or auto-service use by right with no Conditional Use Permit. Section 19.32.030 instead requires this Conditional Use Permit specifically for a veterinary use that includes a veterinary hospital or outside/boarding kennel, and separately for a contractor's storage yard, even when accessory and enclosed. The fee is $1,456.00 (code PIM-002) plus a $350.00 Electronic Permitting Maintenance fee on discretionary permits (code POG-003), per the Land Development Services Fee Schedule effective 1/1/2025, with an additional $192.00 County Counsel fee and/or Fire Department review fee on some project types per the same schedule. This permit applies only in unincorporated Kern County; each incorporated city runs its own conditional-use process for work inside its limits.

Zone Change

Any of the 10 tracked industries operating in unincorporated Kern County may need a Zone Change if its intended use requires rezoning the parcel rather than a variance from an existing zone's standards. The fee is $2,080.00 at minimum (code PIM-001), per the Land Development Services Fee Schedule effective 1/1/2025, with the final amount scaling with the project's scope under the same schedule. This is a one-time, per-application fee and applies only in unincorporated Kern County; a business inside any of the county's 11 incorporated cities instead follows that city's own rezoning process.

Zoning Compliance Review — Title 5 Business License Companion Fee

Kern County Code §5.04.080 requires the Planning Director to confirm zoning-ordinance compliance before any Title 5 license — including the Massage Establishment / Massage-Related Business license recorded above — may issue, so a salon applying for that license also pays this separate Kern Planning fee. The new-application review costs $140.00 (code COP-015) and the renewal review costs $62.00 (code COP-R15), per the Land Development Services Fee Schedule effective 1/1/2025, confirmed live and unchanged on the county's current fee page. This is a Kern Planning fee distinct from the Sheriff's Office's own license fee, billed on top of it rather than in place of it, and applies only in unincorporated Kern County, the same scope as the Title 5 license itself.

Large Family Day Care Home Permit

A home caring for 9 to 14 children (a 'large family day care home') needs this administrative, planning-director-level permit in unincorporated Kern County in addition to the state Community Care Licensing operating license; a small family day care home of up to 8 children is by-right under state preemption and needs neither a Conditional Use Permit nor this permit. Kern County Code §19.96.050(A)-(B) requires notice to property owners within a 100-foot radius, with a hearing held only if one is requested. The fee is $83.00 if no hearing is requested (code COP-012) or $260.00 if a hearing is held (code PIM-031), per the Land Development Services Fee Schedule effective 1/1/2025. A stand-alone day-care center (not home-based) is instead a by-right use in the county's C-2 commercial district and is not separately fee-gated under this permit.

Zone Variance

Any of the 10 tracked industries operating in unincorporated Kern County may need a Zone Variance if its proposed use or site plan cannot meet a specific zoning-ordinance standard for the applicable zone. The fee is $1,352.00 (code PIM-003), per the Land Development Services Fee Schedule effective 1/1/2025, confirmed live and unchanged on the county's current fee page. This is a one-time, per-application fee rather than a recurring one, and applies only in unincorporated Kern County; a business inside any of the county's 11 incorporated cities instead follows that city's own variance process.

Liquor License — Determination of Public Convenience or Necessity

Kern County Code Ch. 19.116, read in full, creates no county-issued alcohol license of its own; its only function is this Determination of Public Convenience or Necessity process, triggered when California's Business and Professions Code requires local input on a state ABC application — in practice, a new or transferred license in an over-concentrated or high-crime census tract. The applicant files with Kern Planning, notice goes to property owners and existing licensees within 500 feet and to the Kern County Sheriff's Department, and the Board of Supervisors adopts a resolution with findings after a public hearing under §§19.116.020-.040. The county fee is $1,123.00 (code PIM-018), with a $281.00 preliminary review option, per the Land Development Services Fee Schedule effective 1/1/2025. The underlying alcohol license itself is issued and renewed exclusively by the state: California ABC's current fee schedule, effective January 1, 2026, lists a $1,135.00 application fee for a Type 41 or Type 20 license and a $7,515.00 application fee for a Type 47 license, figures recorded here only as context for the state process this county fee attaches to, not as a Kern County charge.

Contact

Jurisdiction
Kern County
Phone
Not verified — use the website

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. Application Fee Schedules, effective January 1, 2026California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-02
  2. Kern County Code Chapter 19.116 (Liquor License — Determination of Public Convenience) — filing, notice and Board of Supervisors hearing procedure in §§19.116.020-.040Kern County, via Municode (Kern County Municipal Code) · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-02
  3. Kern County Code Chapter 19.32 (General Commercial C-2 District) — by-right uses in §19.32.020 and Conditional-Use-Permit-triggering uses, including veterinary hospital and contractor's storage yard, in §19.32.030Kern County, via Municode (Kern County Municipal Code) · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-02
  4. Kern County Code Chapter 19.94 (Home Occupations) — the one-chair barber/cosmetologist exemption in §19.94.020(C) and the excluded uses in §19.94.030Kern County, via Municode (Kern County Municipal Code) · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-02
  5. Kern County Code Chapter 19.96 (Large Family Day Care Homes) — the notice/hearing procedure in §19.96.050Kern County, via Municode (Kern County Municipal Code) · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-02
  6. Kern County Code Chapter 5.04 (Business Licenses Generally) — the enumerated list of licensed business types in §5.04.020, the Massage Establishment and related fee table in §5.04.160, and the annual term in §5.04.210Kern County, via Municode (Kern County Municipal Code) · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-02
  7. Kern County Land Development Services Fee Schedule, effective 1/1/2025Kern County Planning and Natural Resources Department / Public Works Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-02

Other offices serving Kern 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.