Commercial Real Estate in Pacifica: Coastal Zoning, New Mixed-Use Districts and Bluff Rules

By Matthew Martinez, Founder, CEO & Managing Broker, Diamond Real Estate Group. California DRE #01869679.

Pacifica’s commercial property is spread along Highway 1 in a string of neighborhood centers, from the north end near Sharp Park and Palmetto Avenue through Rockaway Beach to the Linda Mar shopping area, with service commercial and light industrial pockets in between. Much of it sits inside the Coastal Zone, where a city coastal development permit and bluff and hazard review come before almost any project. The city also added a family of mixed-use districts in 2025. Confirm the zoning and coastal status of each parcel with the City of Pacifica before relying on this page.

Who controls the parcel

Pacifica is an incorporated city with its own certified Local Coastal Program. Zoning is in Title 9, Chapter 4 of the Pacifica Municipal Code. The city’s Coastal Zone combining district covers the whole Pacifica Coastal Zone, sits over the base zones and controls where the two conflict. It was first adopted in 1994 and last amended in 2021.

The city, not the County, issues coastal development permits. Planning Commission decisions can be appealed to the City Council within 10 days, and projects in the appeals zone can then go to the Coastal Commission. That zone takes in land between the sea and the first public road and land within 300 feet of a beach or coastal bluff.

Pacifica zoning for commercial, industrial and mixed use

The code’s table of contents lists these business districts among others.

What the C-1 district allows

By right. The C-1 article permits food markets, drug stores, liquor stores and other retail, with firearms and cannabis excluded. It also permits these uses:

• personal services and banks
• art galleries, instructional studios and craft shops
• offices, but only entirely above the ground floor
• visitor-serving commercial uses, inside the Coastal Zone

Use permit. Restaurants and fast food, motels, drive-in restaurants, service stations, health clubs, pet care, child care and ground-floor offices need a use permit. So do apartments over a shop, which must be above the ground floor at no more than one unit per 2,000 square feet of lot.

Coastal Zone twist. In the Coastal Zone, any new or changed use other than a visitor-serving use needs a use permit determination. Converting a beach-area storefront from a surf shop to an office, for example, takes a discretionary step. New construction next to a residential district also needs a use permit.

Standards. Sites must be at least 5,000 square feet and 50 feet wide. Height is 35 feet, with no required setbacks unless a site development permit sets them, and 10% landscaping. Business must be conducted indoors unless the code says otherwise.

The 2025 mixed-use districts

On September 24, 2025, Ordinance 902-C.S. took effect and added higher-density residential and mixed-use districts: R-30 through R-60, MU-30 through MU-60 and MU-I-30 through MU-I-60.

• Residential share. Every project in these districts must devote at least half its gross floor area to housing.
• Ground-floor commercial. Commercial ground floors need 15-foot floor-to-floor height, windows on at least 20% of the street-level facade and a 40-foot depth.
• Massing. Street facades step back 10 feet above the second story.
• By-right approval. On sites the 2023–2031 Housing Element uses for its lower-income shortfall, qualifying projects that meet objective standards and the rezoning EIR’s mitigation measures get ministerial approval.

For a commercial owner whose site was rezoned, a stand-alone commercial building may no longer fit the district. Check the parcel’s current designation.

Bluffs, coastal hazards and lodging

Coastal permits. Under Article 43, almost all development in the Coastal Zone needs a coastal development permit. That includes grading, new structures, subdivisions, changes in use intensity and major vegetation removal. Small additions and repairs can be exempt, but not within 50 feet of a coastal bluff, in landslide areas, on slopes over 35% or in sensitive habitat and its 100-foot buffer.

Bluff rules. The code defines a coastal bluff as at least 10 feet of vertical relief. It requires a geologist to confirm that the developable area can withstand a 100-year hazard event. Seawall or revetment work, and landform changes within 100 feet of a bluff edge, also trigger review. Detailed shoreline protection standards are in Article 44.

Short-term rentals and lodging. Pacifica’s short-term rental article, replaced by Ordinance 901-C.S. effective September 10, 2025, caps the city at 150 permits. It requires the operator to live on site as a primary residence, and limits unhosted stays to 60 nights a year. Motels in C-1 need a use permit, and B&B inns have their own article (4.6).

Transfer tax, business tax and property tax

Pacifica has its own real property transfer tax of 27.5 cents per $500 of consideration over $100, excluding liens that remain. The County Recorder administers it. The County documentary transfer tax is 55 cents per $500, and the County’s page does not say how the two interact. Confirm the combined amount on the escrow estimate. Pacifica’s business licensing chapter includes gross receipts and flat-rate articles, and short-term rental operators need both a business license and a transient occupancy registration certificate. A sale generally triggers Proposition 13 reassessment.

Due diligence that matters in Pacifica

Start with our commercial due diligence checklist, then add:

• Confirm the base district, whether the parcel is in the Coastal Zone, and whether it sits in the Coastal Commission appeals zone.
• Check whether the site was rezoned to an MU or R district in 2025.
• For bluff-top or beach-area property, get a geologist’s opinion on the developable area and the condition of any shoreline protection.
• Pull the use permit for any restaurant, motel or service station.
• In the Coastal Zone, ask whether a non-visitor-serving change of use needs a use permit determination.
• Budget for both city and County transfer tax.

Questions people ask

Sources & notes

1. Pacifica Municipal Code, table of contents (GoCodebook)
2. Pacifica Article 10, C-1 Neighborhood Commercial
3. Pacifica Article 43, Coastal Zone Combining District
4. Pacifica Article 54, Higher Density Residential and Mixed-Use Districts
5. Pacifica Article 49, Short-Term Rentals
6. Pacifica Title 3, Chapter 5, Real Property Transfer Taxes
7. San Mateo County ACRE, documentary transfer tax

Note: We did not review the C-2, C-3, C-R, M districts, Article 44, the LCP land use plan or its certification date, or which neighborhoods were rezoned in 2025.

This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. Last reviewed October 2026 by Matthew Martinez.

Related: Pacifica real estate guide · Multifamily property in Pacifica · Commercial real estate services