Commercial Real Estate in Pleasant Hill: Zoning Districts, Mixed-Use Corridors and Local Rules

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

Pleasant Hill’s commercial property sits along a few corridors in central Contra Costa County. Contra Costa Boulevard holds regional retail. Downtown Pleasant Hill around Crescent Drive has shops and restaurants. Gregory Lane, Monument Boulevard and Golf Club Drive have neighborhood centers and offices. Light industrial and service users cluster in a few pockets. The city rewrote its zoning in late 2025, so older summaries may be out of date. Confirm the district and any planned unit development for each parcel with the city.

Who controls the parcel

The City of Pleasant Hill Planning Division applies Title 18 of the municipal code. The current commercial and mixed-use chapters come from Ordinance 978, adopted November 17, 2025.

Not every "Pleasant Hill" address is inside the city. The office and transit village at Pleasant Hill BART, known as Contra Costa Centre, is unincorporated and governed by Contra Costa County. Parcels on the city’s edges can also fall under the county or a neighboring city. See our Contra Costa County commercial page for county rules, and check the assessor’s tax rate area before relying on city zoning.

Pleasant Hill zoning for commercial, industrial and mixed use

Chapter 18.25 sets five commercial, office and industrial districts. Chapter 18.20 adds four mixed-use districts.

District	Intended uses	Notes
NB Neighborhood Business	Everyday shopping and services for nearby residents	35 ft, FAR 0.35. Late-hour restaurants near homes need a use permit
RB Retail Business	Citywide and regional retail, shopping centers, hotels, theaters	35 ft, FAR 0.4. Auto sales and car washes need a use permit
PAO Professional and Administrative Office	General and medical offices	35 ft, FAR 0.35. Five or more housing units need a use permit
C General Commercial	Auto sales and repair, building materials, storage, wholesale	35 ft, FAR 0.35
LI Light Industrial	R&D, contractor yards, warehousing, light manufacturing	35 ft, FAR 0.4. Raw materials processing and bulk handling excluded
MX-NB Mixed-Use Neighborhood Business	Shops with compact housing near single-family areas	1.3 to 20 units per acre, 35 ft
MX Mixed-Use	Housing, retail, hotels and offices	12 to 40 units per acre, 50 ft
MX-HD Mixed-Use High-Density	Multifamily with commercial	40 to 70 units per acre, 60 ft
MX-VHD Mixed-Use Very High-Density	The most intensive mix	70 to 100 units per acre, 85 ft, FAR 0.85

The nonresidential FAR in the first three mixed-use districts is 0.75. The code’s online use table is hard to read in places, so check a specific use with Planning. Larger sites may sit in a Planned Unit Development or Precise Plan District under Chapter 18.30, with standards set in that site’s own approval.

Corridors and commercial floor minimums

The 2025 code ties the amount of commercial space on a mixed-use site to its corridor. Under Section 18.20.040.B, a mixed-use project that is not on a housing opportunity site must devote part of its gross floor area to commercial use:

25%: Contra Costa Boulevard, Golf Club Drive, Monument Boulevard and the Downtown Specific Plan Area
15%: Gregory Lane, Oak Park Boulevard, Pleasant Hill Road and Ellinwood Way
10%: everywhere else

A smaller share requires a use permit backed by a market or retail feasibility study. For buyers, this means a mixed-use redevelopment of a Contra Costa Boulevard center has to keep real retail in the plan.

The chapter also sets ground-floor design rules. Primary-street frontage needs at least 70% transparent glazing. Half of the primary facade needs tenant spaces at least 45 feet deep, and ground floors need at least 10 feet of floor-to-ceiling height. Entrances must face the primary street or a public open space. Older single-story buildings often fail these tests, which affects how a redevelopment is designed, not whether existing uses can continue.

Downtown. Downtown housing has been approved through site-specific plans. In March 2021 the city approved the Downtown Cleaveland Multifamily Specific Plan for 210 apartments on 2.33 acres at Cleaveland Road, Crescent Plaza and Boyd Road, after an EIR. Expect similar sites to need their own plan or PUD.

Cannabis, historic overlays and other local rules

Cannabis. Chapter 18.65 bans adult-use retail citywide. Medical retail is limited to the LI, C and PAO districts with a use permit. No more than two permits may be issued. Businesses must be delivery-only with no storefront, at most 10,000 sq ft, and at least 600 feet from schools, day cares and youth centers. The city will not take applications until the Council sets an application period by resolution. Business licensing is in Chapter 6.60.
Historic and cultural overlays. Chapter 18.40 creates H (Historic District) and CR (Cultural Resources) overlays. Exterior work needs a Certificate of Appropriateness, and demolition needs Architectural Review Commission approval and can be delayed 180 days.
Iron Horse Corridor. In the LI district, emergency shelters are allowed by right under limits, but not on the former Southern Pacific right-of-way or parcels next to it.
Hotels and massage. Hotel and motel registration rules are in Chapter 6.55, and massage establishments are regulated under Chapter 6.30.
Creeks and scenic routes. Title 18 includes creek setback and scenic route setback chapters. Check creekside parcels early.

Transfer tax, business tax and property tax

The Contra Costa Clerk-Recorder charges the county documentary transfer tax of $0.55 per $500 of value. The Recorder lists separate city taxes only for El Cerrito and Richmond.

Pleasant Hill’s code includes a Real Property Transfer Tax chapter, 5.35, administered by the County Recorder. The chapter sets the rate by Council resolution and does not state it. Because the Recorder lists no added Pleasant Hill tax, the city share appears to fall within the county total, but confirm with escrow.

Title 5 also contains business license, transient occupancy tax and utility users tax chapters. We did not verify the rates. A sale is generally a Proposition 13 change of ownership that resets the assessed value.

Due diligence that matters in Pleasant Hill

Use our commercial due diligence checklist, then add:

Confirm the parcel is in the city and not in unincorporated Contra Costa Centre.
Pull the district under the November 2025 code, plus any PUD, PPD or specific plan.
For mixed-use plans, apply the 25%, 15% or 10% commercial floor minimum for that corridor.
Check for an H or CR overlay before planning exterior changes or demolition.
Check creek and scenic route setbacks.
For cannabis, confirm whether the Council has opened an application period.

Questions people ask

What zoning allows retail on Contra Costa Boulevard?

Typically RB Retail Business or a mixed-use district. Confirm the parcel’s district on the city map.

Do mixed-use projects have to include commercial space?

Yes, unless the site is a housing opportunity site. On Contra Costa Boulevard and downtown the minimum is 25% of floor area, and on Gregory Lane it is 15%.

How tall can commercial buildings be?

The commercial and industrial districts allow 35 feet. Mixed-use districts allow 35 to 85 feet.

Can I open a cannabis dispensary?

Not a storefront. Only delivery-only medical retail is allowed, in LI, C or PAO, with a use permit and a two-permit cap.

Is Pleasant Hill BART in the city?

The Contra Costa Centre area at the station is unincorporated and follows county zoning.

Is there a city transfer tax?

The code has a transfer tax chapter with a rate set by resolution. The Recorder lists no added city tax, so confirm with escrow.

Does Diamond handle commercial property in Pleasant Hill?

Contact Matthew Martinez to discuss buying, selling or leasing commercial property in Pleasant Hill.

Sources & notes

Pleasant Hill Municipal Code Title 18 (GoCodebook, October 2026 edition): Chapters 18.20, 18.25, 18.30, 18.40, 18.65, 18.70
Pleasant Hill Title 5, Revenue and Finance and Chapter 5.35
Pleasant Hill Title 6, Business Regulations
CEQAnet, Downtown Cleaveland Multifamily Specific Plan NOD (SCH 2019070457)
Contra Costa Clerk-Recorder, Documentary Transfer Tax

Note: Business license, TOT and city transfer tax rates were not verified. The Downtown Specific Plan text and the zoning map were not reviewed.

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

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