Commercial Real Estate in Ross: The C-L District, Council Use Permits and Mixed-Use Housing

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

Ross is a small residential town in the Ross Valley. Commercial property is limited to a compact cluster of shops, offices and services near Ross Common and Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, with most of the rest of town zoned single-family, civic or open space. The zoning code limits commercial land on purpose, so the few commercial parcels rarely come to market. Confirm the zoning of any parcel with Ross Planning before relying on this page.

Who controls the parcel

Inside town limits, the Town of Ross regulates land use under Title 18. Use permits in the commercial district go to the Town Council, not a planning commission or zoning administrator, which makes approvals more political than in larger cities. Unincorporated Kentfield and Greenbrae next door follow Marin County’s code. See our Kentfield commercial guide and Marin County commercial guide. Sewer service is from the Ross Valley Sanitary District, which requires a lateral compliance certificate at sale.

Ross zoning for commercial, industrial and mixed use

Ross has a single commercial district and no industrial zoning. The remaining districts are for civic, institutional and open land.

District	Intended uses	Notes
C-L Local Service Commercial	Everyday shops and services for residents, in a compact central area	Retail by right. Offices by right except in street-fronting ground-floor space. 30 ft. No minimum lot or coverage limit
C-D Civic	Town and public facilities	Chapter 18.24
C-C Community Cultural	Cultural and community institutions	Chapter 18.28
P-F Public Facilities	Schools and public facilities	Chapter 18.29
O-S Open Space and F Floodway	Open land and the creek floodway	Chapters 18.30 and 18.31
R-1 with :B suffixes	Single-family homes. Schools, churches and clubs by use permit	Schools capped at 420 students. 20% FAR and coverage

The C-L chapter says the district should be only as large as needed for residents’ local service needs. This explains why commercial land in Ross is scarce and rarely rezoned.

What the C-L district allows

By right. Grocery, clothing, drug, variety and stationery stores, bakeries, and shops for flowers, gifts, garden supplies, pets, art supplies and photography are permitted. Appliance sales and service, shoe repair, and laundry agencies without on-site cleaning are also permitted. Medical, dental, real estate, insurance, architecture, engineering and law offices are allowed by right, but not in street-facing ground-floor space.

By Town Council use permit. Banks, salons and barbershops, massage, restaurants serving beer, wine or liquor, on-site dry cleaning, and ground-floor professional offices need a use permit. So do gas stations and auto repair, residential care, single-room occupancy housing and single-family homes built to R-1 standards. The council must find the use suitable for the site, harmless to neighbors and within the town’s service capacity. Ordinance 728 of 2025 last revised this list.

Site standards. C-L has no minimum lot size, coverage limit or yard requirements. Height is two stories plus a mezzanine or attic, up to 30 feet. New or structurally altered buildings need one parking space per 250 square feet of net rentable area. On a small lot, parking is often what limits a project.

Mixed-use housing, signs and cannabis

Housing over shops. Multifamily housing combined with commercial use is permitted in C-L under conditions set in 2012 and 2015. These include one extra parking space per unit, a maximum of two stories plus an attic and 30 feet, up to 100% lot coverage, and a floor area ratio of up to 130%. No housing is allowed in street-fronting ground-floor space without a use permit. Ross has few other multifamily sites, so this is one of the main routes to new rental units in town.

Signs. Business signs need design review. They may identify only the occupant, must stay below the roof ridge and are limited to one square foot per foot of street frontage. Internal lighting and moving signs are not allowed.

Cannabis. Chapter 9.65, adopted in 2017, bans all commercial cannabis activity, including deliveries that start or end in town. The main exception is delivery to patients and caregivers from licensed businesses located elsewhere. It also bars owners from leasing property to a cannabis business, which matters directly to landlords.

Lodging and short stays. C-L lists no hotel or inn use. We found no transient occupancy tax chapter in the Ross code index.

Transfer tax, business tax and property tax

Ross’s Chapter 3.12, dating from 1967, sets a documentary stamp tax of $0.275 per $500, excluding liens remaining on the property. The County Recorder administers it. The Recorder’s transfer tax sheet lists the county’s $0.55 per $500 and names only San Rafael with an added city tax. A town tax at half the county rate is usually credited against the county’s, so confirm the split with escrow. Businesses need a town license under Chapter 5.04. A sale generally triggers Proposition 13 reassessment.

Due diligence that matters in Ross

Start with our commercial due diligence checklist, then add:

Confirm the parcel is C-L. Most nearby parcels are civic, institutional or residential.
For each tenant, check whether the use is allowed by right or needs a Town Council use permit, and whether the space fronts the street on the ground floor.
Count parking at one space per 250 square feet, plus one per apartment in a mixed-use plan.
Check flood exposure near Corte Madera Creek and the Floodway (F) district.
Order the Ross Valley Sanitary District lateral Certificate of Compliance, required at sale.
Rule out cannabis tenants, since leasing to them is barred.

Questions people ask

Does Ross have commercial zoning?

Yes, one district, C-L Local Service Commercial, in a small central area. Ross has no industrial zoning.

Can a restaurant with a wine list open in Ross?

Restaurants with on-sale liquor or beer and wine licenses need a Town Council use permit in C-L.

Can I put a ground-floor office on the street?

Only with a Town Council use permit. Offices are allowed by right in upper floors or space that does not face the street.

Can I build apartments above a shop?

Yes. Mixed multifamily is permitted in C-L up to 30 feet and 130% FAR, with an extra parking space per unit and no street-facing ground-floor housing.

Does Ross have a transfer tax?

Its code sets $0.275 per $500, excluding liens. Confirm with escrow how it applies against the county’s $0.55.

Are cannabis businesses allowed?

No. All commercial cannabis activity is banned, and landlords may not lease to such businesses.

Does Diamond handle commercial property in Ross?

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

Sources & notes

Ross Municipal Code Chapter 18.20, C-L District (GoCodebook, October 2026)
Ross Chapter 18.16, R-1 District, Chapter 18.24, C-D and Chapter 18.28, C-C (titles reviewed)
Ross Chapter 9.65, Cannabis
Ross Chapter 3.12, Documentary Stamp Tax and Chapter 5.04, Licenses
Ross Valley Sanitary District, lateral compliance
Marin County Recorder, transfer tax

Note: We did not read the civic, cultural, public facilities, floodway or hazard chapters, the zoning map or the business license rates. The C-L chapter says "attic" in one section and "mezzanine" in another, so ask staff which applies.

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

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