Monterey, CA Filming & Production: Location Permits (2026)

Monterey City Code § 38-15(I) defines "Commercial Filming" as motion picture or video photography at the same location for more than six days per quarter of a calendar year. A shorter production, six days or fewer per quarter, is instead classified as "Commercial Filming, Limited" under § 38-20(F), a temporary use requiring administrative approval by the Community Development Director. Where a film crew may work, and whether it needs a discretionary permit, depends on the zoning district. In the C-2 Community Commercial District, § 38-29 lists Commercial Filming as a "U" use, meaning the Planning Commission must approve a use permit before filming beyond the six-day threshold can occur.

The CO Office and Professional District (§ 38-31) and the CR Cannery Row Commercial District (§ 38-32), covering the waterfront made famous by the John Steinbeck novel, apply the same "U" use-permit requirement. Only in the C-3 General Commercial District, under § 38-30, is Commercial Filming listed as a "P," permitted use needing no discretionary review. Commercial Filming is not listed in Monterey's R Residential district tables, so under the ordinance's rule that an unlisted use is prohibited, a production cannot work more than six days per quarter at a residential location under the zoning ordinance at all.

A location shoot anywhere in the Coastal Zone, which covers much of Cannery Row and the waterfront, separately triggers the California Coastal Act's coastal development permit requirements, layered on top of whatever the Zoning Ordinance requires.