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San Diego County

County of San Diego Planning & Development Services (PDS), Zoning and Building Divisions

In short

County of San Diego Planning & Development Services (PDS), Zoning and Building Divisions issues 4 permits we publish for San Diego 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
Discretionary Land Use Permit — Minor Use Permit / Major Use Permit (unincorporated San Diego County)only if it applies to youCounty of San Diego Planning & Development Services (PDS), Zoning and Building Divisions$5,465–$13,866 intake deposit, by permit tier (PDS-369, Rev. 7/10/2026): Minor Use Permit Standard Application $5,465, Modification $7,322; Major Use Permit Standard Application, Planned Development or Group Care (occupancy up to 14 persons) $13,866, Time Extension $7,346 — each figure is a deposit against time-and-materials cost recovery, not a fixed final fee, and a project can be billed above its depositone-time per application; a Major Use Permit Time Extension can be filed separately at $7,3462026-09-27
Home Occupation — Zoning Ordinance §6156.m Conditions (San Diego County)only if it applies to youCounty of San Diego Planning & Development Services (PDS), Zoning and Building DivisionsNo feenot applicable2026-09-27
Commercial Kennel — Zoning Animal Schedule and Animal Services Kennel License (San Diego County)only if it applies to youCounty of San Diego Planning & Development Services (PDS), Zoning and Building DivisionsKennel license fee set by the Department of Animal Services; it is not published on Animal Services' license pages — contact Animal Services at (619) 767-2675. Where the Animal Schedule requires a Minor or Major Use Permit, that deposit is recorded in the discretionary-use-permit record.as set by the Department of Animal Services for the kennel license2026-09-27
Certificate of Occupancy (unincorporated San Diego County)only if it applies to youCounty of San Diego Planning & Development Services (PDS), Zoning and Building DivisionsNo feenot applicable — folded into the building permit's own final inspection2026-09-27

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

Discretionary Land Use Permit — Minor Use Permit / Major Use Permit (unincorporated San Diego County)

In the unincorporated area, a use the Zoning Ordinance's land-use tables mark as conditional needs a Minor Use Permit ($5,465 standard application deposit) or a Major Use Permit ($13,866 standard application/planned-development deposit), depending on the use and scale involved; both are billed against the deposit on a time-and-materials basis rather than a flat closing price. Two uses are directly confirmed in PDS's own fee schedule: a 'Group Care' facility with an occupancy of up to 14 persons — relevant to a larger unincorporated-area child-care centre — is a Major Use Permit item at the same $13,866 deposit as a standard Major application, and a commercial kennel (see the separate kennel record) can require either tier depending on the property's Animal Designator. A restaurant or coffee shop seeking a zoning layer for on-site alcohol service, a fitness studio needing assembly-occupancy zoning clearance, an auto-repair shop or contractor's yard in a zone that marks those uses conditional, or a veterinary clinic boarding animals at a volume the Animal Schedule marks conditional, can each be routed into this permit family; which tier and fee apply is set by the specific zone and use, not a single number for the whole industry. This is separate from any State Alcoholic Beverage Control license, which remains a state requirement.

Home Occupation — Zoning Ordinance §6156.m Conditions (San Diego County)

PDS's own Home Occupations handout (PDS-304) states that under Zoning Ordinance §6156.m home occupations 'shall be permitted in compliance with the following conditions,' listing conditions rather than an application, so there is no separate home occupation fee in unincorporated San Diego County. The occupation must be conducted entirely within the dwelling or an attached garage (a Cottage Food Operation must instead be conducted within the dwelling's actual kitchen, never a garage); it may involve the residents plus no more than one non-resident employee; indoor storage of goods is capped at 125 cubic feet in no more than one room; no signage is allowed beyond what Zoning Ordinance §6252(d) permits; and there is no on-premise sale of goods except a permitted Cottage Food Operation. A specific, notable carve-out: up to six non-resident students at a time, and up to eighteen in one day, may be given tutoring in music, academics, dance or sports at the residence, subject to the county's noise-control rules. Storing hazardous materials or chemicals as part of the home occupation can separately require a DEHQ permit. A use the zoning code bars outright as a home occupation can still be reachable through the discretionary use-permit family recorded separately for San Diego County.

Commercial Kennel — Zoning Animal Schedule and Animal Services Kennel License (San Diego County)

A kennel — defined by the Zoning Ordinance as any lot or premises keeping seven or more dogs, cats or similar small animals in any combination, including boarding, sale or hire — is a land-use category under Zoning Ordinance §3100's Animal Schedule, applying only in the unincorporated area. PDS's Kennels handout (PDS-359) adds: 'Even if a property is zoned for a kennel or has obtained a use permit for a kennel, the proper licensing must still be obtained through the County of San Diego, Department of Animal Services,' which states that 'we serve the unincorporated areas of San Diego County.' The kennel license fee is not published on Animal Services' license pages; ask Animal Services at (619) 767-2675. Each property carries an 'Animal Designator' that determines whether a kennel use there is permitted outright, permitted only if fully enclosed, or requires a Minor or Major Use Permit — the fee for that last outcome is the deposit recorded in the discretionary-use-permit record. A veterinary clinic that boards seven or more animals is a kennel under that definition; whether the zoning route is by right, enclosure or a Minor/Major Use Permit depends on the property's Animal Designator. The property's specific Animal Designator is available from PDS's Zoning Division, 1-888-267-8770.

Certificate of Occupancy (unincorporated San Diego County)

The Building Division's own guidance document How to Obtain a Building Permit Summary (form PDS 441A) states that 'a separate document will not be provided to signify Certificate of Occupancy' for a building or tenant space in the unincorporated area. PDS's own guidance states directly that 'the completed, signed-off permit card is the Certificate of Occupancy and should be retained' once the building permit's final inspection is passed, so there is no additional fee or separate application beyond the building permit itself. Inside any of the 18 incorporated cities, that city issues its own occupancy sign-off instead. This record does not include the underlying commercial building-permit or tenant-improvement fee schedule itself, since PDS's valuation-based Building Division fee table is not published on the PDS Application Summary page; confirm building-permit fees with PDS.

Contact

Jurisdiction
San Diego County
Phone
1-888-267-8770

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. County of San Diego Department of Animal Services — 'We serve the unincorporated areas of San Diego County'County of San Diego Department of Animal Services · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-27
  2. PDS Application Summary — states PDS reviews privately-initiated development permit applications within unincorporated San Diego County, and that the signed permit card is the Certificate of OccupancyPDS, County of San Diego · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-27
  3. PDS-304, 'Home Occupations' — Zoning Ordinance §6156.m conditions, no separate permit or feePDS, County of San Diego · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-27
  4. PDS-359, 'Kennels' — defines a kennel (7+ dogs/cats/similar animals) and routes it through the Zoning Ordinance §3100 Animal Schedule by the parcel's Animal Designator (permitted, permitted if enclosed, or Minor/Major Use Permit)PDS, County of San Diego · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-27
  5. PDS-369, Schedule of Filing Fees and Deposits (Rev. 7/10/2026) — Minor Use Permit ($5,465 standard, $7,322 modification) and Major Use Permit ($13,866 standard/planned development/Group Care, $7,346 time extension) intake depositsPDS, County of San Diego · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-27

Other offices serving San Diego 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.