Commercial Compliance Hub
Check requirements

Riverside County

Riverside County Planning Department (TLMA)

In short

Riverside County Planning Department (TLMA) issues 4 permits we publish for Riverside County, last verified 2026-09-27. 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
Alcohol Conditional Use Permit (layered on the state ABC license)only if it applies to youRiverside County Planning Department (TLMA)$7,500 deposit-based, CUP – Alcohol License, Free-Standing (Ordinance 671 §2)one-time application fee2026-09-27
Large Family Day Care Permitonly if it applies to youRiverside County Planning Department (TLMA)$255 one-time (Ordinance 671 §2, item 23)one-time application; underlying use is ongoing subject to state licensing renewal2026-09-27
Small Family Day Care Home — Zoning Status under Health & Safety Code §1597.45 (Riverside County)only if it applies to youRiverside County Planning Department (TLMA)No feenot applicable2026-09-27
Conditional Use Permit / Plot Plan / Zoning Clearanceonly if it applies to youRiverside County Planning Department (TLMA)$250–$15,000 deposit-based, per Ordinance 671 §2: Planning Intake Fee (nearly every application) $250; CUP-General (also covers Class IV Kennel) $10,000; Plot Plan Administrative $1,500; Plot Plan Transmitted (with hearing) $15,000; Variance $1,500; Temporary Use Permit $3,500; Setback Adjustment $270; Appeal to Planning Commission/Board of Supervisors $1,200 flatone-time application fee; the resulting land-use entitlement generally does not expire on a renewal cycle unless conditioned otherwise2026-09-27

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

Alcohol Conditional Use Permit (layered on the state ABC license)

A restaurant or coffee shop in the unincorporated area planning to serve or sell alcoholic beverages needs a $7,500 deposit-based Alcohol Conditional Use Permit from the Planning Dept. before or alongside its state Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) license, because California Business & Professions Code §23790 bars ABC from issuing a license contrary to a valid local zoning ordinance. This applies only in the unincorporated area; inside an incorporated city, the same state-law layering exists but is governed by that city's own zoning code and CUP process instead. The underlying liquor license itself is issued by the state ABC and recorded at the state layer, not here.

Large Family Day Care Permit

A large family day care home (9-14 children, under California's state-law definition) operating in the unincorporated area needs a $255 Planning Dept. permit. California Health & Safety Code §1597.46 constrains this to a ministerial, notice-based process rather than a full discretionary hearing, reflecting state preemption of local control over family day care homes. This applies only in the unincorporated area; a large family day care home inside an incorporated city instead follows that city's own process. A small family day care home (8 or fewer children) needs no county land-use permit of any kind — see the separate record on that point.

Small Family Day Care Home — Zoning Status under Health & Safety Code §1597.45 (Riverside County)

No fee applies. Under California Health & Safety Code §1597.45 and §1597.46, which make a small family day care home (8 or fewer children) a use permitted by right in every residential zone statewide, Riverside County (and every California city and county) is preempted from requiring a zoning permit, use permit, or other special zoning consideration for one. This by-right status does not exempt the home from other generally applicable county requirements that are not zoning-specific — Business (Stormwater) Registration if it meets that program's own registration trigger, and fire-safety clearance if state child-care licensing requires one.

Conditional Use Permit / Plot Plan / Zoning Clearance

Any of the ten covered business types operating in the unincorporated area needs Planning Dept. clearance if its specific use is not permitted by right in the applicable zone — most commonly a Conditional Use Permit for a use with off-site impacts (an auto-repair shop, a kennel, an alcohol-serving restaurant) or a plot plan for site-specific review. Nearly every application first pays a $250 Planning Intake Fee. A general CUP is a $10,000 deposit-based fee (this figure also covers a Class IV Kennel); an administrative plot plan is $1,500, rising to $15,000 for one requiring a public hearing; a variance is $1,500; a temporary use permit is $3,500; a minor setback adjustment is $270; an appeal is a flat $1,200. All figures except the intake fee and appeal are deposits against actual staff time, so final cost can be higher or lower. This applies only in the unincorporated area — each of the 28 incorporated cities runs its own Planning Dept. and CUP process. Ordinance 671's fee table was reissued as amendment 671.25 (effective 10/23/2026) with these figures byte-identical to the currently-in-force 671.23.

Contact

Jurisdiction
Riverside 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. Business Licenses and Permits — states county licensing is department-specific, not a general license; refers general licensing questions to the state CDTFACounty of Riverside · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-27
  2. Riverside County Ordinance No. 671 (consolidated Planning/Fire Code fee schedule), amendment 671.25; fee figures byte-identical to the currently-in-force 671.23 (effective 2/14/2025)Riverside County Clerk of the Board · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-27

Other offices serving Riverside 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.