Commercial Real Estate in Seaside: Broadway Corridor, Fort Ord Lands and the City’s Five Commercial Zones

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

Seaside’s commercial property runs along Broadway Avenue, Fremont Boulevard and Del Monte Boulevard, plus the auto center near Highway 1 and a large inventory of former Fort Ord land on the city’s east side. The rules change sharply from one area to the next: the Broadway Corridor gets far more floor area than the rest of the Community Commercial zone, and Fort Ord parcels carry ordnance-related permit rules found nowhere else on the Peninsula. Confirm the zone, any specific plan and any overlay with the City of Seaside before relying on this page.

Who controls the parcel

Seaside is an incorporated city, so its Title 17 zoning ordinance governs inside city limits. Two other layers matter:

• Coastal zone. A separate Title 18, Chapter 18.02, adopted by Ordinance 1006 in 2013, sets districts and permit types for the city’s coastal zone as the zoning part of its Local Coastal Program. Its coastal zoning map dates to April 28, 2010, and the chapter names Laguna Grande, Roberts Lake and Monterey Bay as marine resource areas. Development there needs a coastal administrative permit or a coastal development permit.
• Former Fort Ord. Large tracts east of Highway 1 came to the city from the Army. Some acreage stayed with the Department of Defense and is outside city permit rules, so confirm ownership and jurisdiction for any parcel near the campus or the Army housing areas.

Adjacent areas such as Del Rey Oaks, Sand City and Monterey are separate cities with their own codes, and a "Seaside" mailing address does not always mean the City of Seaside controls the parcel.

Seaside zoning for commercial, industrial and mixed use

Chapter 17.14 has five commercial zones, amended many times since 2016, most recently by Ordinance 2031 in 2024. The Fort Ord visitor district is in Chapter 17.24.

What needs a permit. The land use table is detailed, so read the entry for your exact use. In broad terms:

• Sit-down restaurants are permitted in CMX, CC, CRG and CH. Counter-service restaurants need a use permit, and fast food is limited to CMX and CRG with a use permit.
• Bars, nightclubs and stand-alone alcohol sales need a use permit, and the code also requires a use permit for alcohol sold as an accessory use.
• Hotels need a use permit in CMX, CC and CRG.
• Small retail under 5,000 square feet and most offices are permitted in CMX, CC and CRG. Big-box retail is limited to CRG with a use permit.
• Drive-throughs need a use permit, and some are limited to establishments that existed on December 4, 2006.
• New car dealers are permitted in CA. Used-only sales and major repair are steered to CH.

Cannabis. Cannabis retail needs a conditional use permit in every commercial zone and is also governed by Title 19. Microbusinesses need a minor use permit, and cultivation in CMX is limited to frontage on the alley between Broadway Avenue and Olympia Street.

Broadway Corridor and the West Broadway Urban Village

The Broadway Corridor Specific Plan is the main reason CC land along Broadway can be built four times as densely as CC land elsewhere. The West Broadway Urban Village, the walkable stretch near Fremont, has its own notes in the use table: cannabis microbusinesses there need a minor use permit, and cannabis retail needs a conditional use permit. Ground-floor business offices in CMX need a minor use permit, so a buyer planning office space on a storefront level should confirm the permit path early. The city also keeps a separate chapter for outdoor dining and merchant displays in the Urban Village, which matters for restaurant tenants.

Fort Ord lands: ordnance permits and the Highway 1 overlay

Digging permits. Chapter 15.34, adopted by Ordinance 924 in 2004, covers about 1,581 acres of former Fort Ord land in Seaside that are known or suspected to hold ordnance. Any digging, grading or other ground disturbance of 10 cubic yards or more needs a city permit. The application includes a liability acknowledgment and proof that workers received the ordnance safety alert, and work must stop and agencies must be notified if suspected ordnance turns up. An after-action report is due within 30 days. Owners must tell lessees and successors about these rules before a transfer, and metal detecting is banned in the district.

ORD overlay. The overlay chapter marks these lands with an ORD suffix on the zoning map.

Highway 1 Design overlay. On Fort Ord land within 500 feet of the Highway 1 right-of-way or viewshed, buildings must sit 100 feet back from the highway’s eastern edge, use natural materials, and avoid blocking public bay views from vista points. Mission, Craftsman or Mediterranean styles are called for, and the former FORA corridor design guidelines still apply.

Polygon 22. In the V-FO district, hotel rooms must be spread across several buildings and building height may not exceed the mature height of trees in the golf course area.

Transfer tax, business tax and property tax

Monterey County Code Chapter 5.32, as amended by Ordinance 5211 in December 2012, imposes $0.55 per $500 of consideration over $100, excluding liens that remain on the property. We found no separate Seaside transfer tax chapter in the city code index; confirm the total on the escrow estimate.

Seaside’s business operations tax uses a gross receipts scale for most businesses: $37.50 on the first $25,000, plus $9 per added $5,000. Renewals are due August 31, and late payment carries a 50% penalty. Commercial leasing has no specific category, so ask the city how rent is taxed. Hotels collect the city’s 12% transient occupancy tax on stays of 30 days or less. A sale generally triggers Proposition 13 reassessment.

Due diligence that matters in Seaside

Start with our commercial due diligence checklist, then add:

• Confirm the zone and whether the parcel is inside the Broadway Corridor Specific Plan, which changes CC floor area from 0.50 to 2.0.
• Check for an ORD suffix. If present, budget for the Chapter 15.34 digging permit and worker safety alerts on any site work.
• On Fort Ord land near Highway 1, apply the 100-foot setback and the design overlay before sizing a building.
• Confirm whether the parcel is in the coastal zone under Title 18.
• Pull use permits for any restaurant, bar, alcohol, hotel or drive-through use; some drive-throughs depend on a 2006 status.
• Confirm business operations tax and TOT registration are current.

Questions people ask

Sources & notes

1. Seaside Chapter 17.14, Commercial Zones (GoCodebook)
2. Seaside Chapter 17.22, Overlay Zones
3. Seaside Chapter 17.24, Fort Ord Lands
4. Seaside Chapter 15.34, Digging and Excavation on the Former Fort Ord (Code Publishing)
5. Seaside Chapter 18.02, Coastal Zone Districts
6. Seaside Chapter 5.04, Business Operations Tax
7. Seaside Chapter 3.24, Transient Occupancy Tax
8. Monterey County Code Chapter 5.32, Documentary Transfer Tax

Note: Height limits in Table 2-6 and the Broadway Corridor Specific Plan text were not reviewed, and part of the land use table extracted imperfectly, so confirm each use entry with the city. Corridor names other than Broadway are given for orientation only.

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

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