Pacific Palisades:
mountains meet the sea
A close-knit coastal neighborhood where rebuilding rules, the coastal zone and fire safety now shape every decision.
I’m Matt Bissell
I live and work in the Valley and track Pacific Palisades pocket by pocket. My planning background means I look at zoning, lot potential and where the neighborhood is headed — and I stay with you from the first tour through closing.
What’s on the market, and what just sold
Listings shown through the CRMLS public search. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. “ADU” and lot-size filters reflect listing data only, not legal status or what can be built.
Want Pacific Palisades listings sent to you, with your own login?
I’ll set up a saved search for exactly what you’re after and follow up personally.
How Pacific Palisades is zoned
The rules behind the streetscape. Tap any area to see its zone. Yellow is single-family, orange and brown are apartments and condos, red is commercial, green is open space.
Zoning from the City of Los Angeles (data.lacity.org), shown for the approximate Pacific Palisades area. Zones can include overlays and conditions (Q, T, D, HPOZ, specific plans) that this map doesn’t show. Always confirm a specific parcel in ZIMAS.
What Pacific Palisades is like
Pacific Palisades sits between the Santa Monica Mountains and the ocean, with a walkable village center, bluff-top streets and canyon neighborhoods. Much of the community was devastated by the January 2025 Palisades Fire, and rebuilding is underway.
For buyers and owners, the questions are practical: what can be rebuilt and how fast, coastal-zone permits, hillside and fire-safety requirements, insurance, and utilities. The planning context is changing as the City and State update rebuilding rules.
Know the micro-market
The Village
Streets near the commercial center.
Bluffs & Huntington
Ocean-facing pockets with coastal-zone rules.
Canyons & highlands
Steeper lots with views and fire-zone requirements.
Want current prices for a pocket? Ask for recent comps.
What’s shaping Pacific Palisades
- Rebuilding rules. Post-fire rebuilding has its own permitting process and executive orders. Confirm current rules for a specific lot, because they’ve been changing.
- Coastal zone. Parts of the Palisades are in the California Coastal Zone, which adds a coastal development permit layer.
Project timelines change. I separate approved projects from proposals and verify status against city and Metro sources before advising on a deal.
Own in Pacific Palisades? The official tools.
Understand your property
ZIMAS ↗The City’s parcel map: zoning, lot size, overlays, plus your council district and neighborhood council for any address.LA County Assessor ↗Assessed value, parcel number and property characteristics. Useful for Prop 19 and tax questions.Research permits & projects
LADBS building records ↗Permit history and building records for a property.City Planning case reports ↗Development applications and planning cases, including projects near you.Have a say
Find your neighborhood council ↗Your local neighborhood council, its meetings and how to weigh in.Your council office ↗Look up your address in ZIMAS. It shows your council district, then use that office’s official contact page.Fix a local problem
MyLA311 ↗Report potholes, graffiti, streetlights, illegal dumping and more.These are official public resources. They tell you what’s on record; they can’t confirm what you’re allowed to build or how a project will be decided. For a specific parcel, I’m happy to walk through it with you.
The Pacific Palisades letter.
One short, readable email: what’s being built, what’s been proposed, what sold and what it means — written by someone trained in city planning. Pick the neighborhoods you care about.