Ask any developer what the hardest part of building housing in California is, and very few will say construction. They'll say entitlements — the maze of zoning codes, general plans, overlay districts, hearing schedules, and state laws that determines whether a project gets approved, and how long it takes.
That process is where fortunes are made and lost. It's also, historically, been almost impossible to research efficiently. The information exists — but it's scattered across hundreds of city websites, PDF staff reports, meeting minutes, and municipal codes that read like tax law. Every city does it differently. Getting a real answer on a single parcel can take a consultant weeks.
That problem is why I co-founded Citis.
What Citis does
Citis is an intelligence and diligence platform for California housing entitlements. In plain English: it reads, organizes, and analyzes the planning and zoning landscape so that owners, investors, and builders can answer the questions that actually drive a deal:
- What can be built on this parcel — by right, and with approvals?
- How do state laws like SB 9, SB 330, the Density Bonus Law, and now SB 79 interact with local zoning here?
- How is this city actually processing applications — what's getting approved, what's stalling, and how long is it really taking?
- What's changing? Rezonings, housing element updates, and new ordinances move markets before the market notices.
Why this matters more in 2026 than ever
California's zoning landscape used to change slowly. Not anymore. In the past few years, Sacramento has passed a wave of housing laws that override or reshape local control — and cities are responding with their own ordinances, exclusions, and alternative plans, each on its own timeline. The gap between what a zoning map says and what the law actually allows has never been wider.
That gap is risk for the unprepared and opportunity for the informed. A parcel that looks like a single-family lot on the city's map may now support significantly more. A "development site" marketed at a premium may sit inside a fresh exclusion zone. The only way to know is to do the diligence — quickly, accurately, and across every layer of law that applies.
How this shows up in my real estate practice
I want to be transparent about the relationship: Citis is a company I co-founded, and it's also a tool my clients benefit from. When I evaluate a land acquisition, advise a seller whose property has development upside, or consult on a project's feasibility, this is the analysis running underneath the advice. It's the difference between "I think this lot has potential" and "here's what the code allows, here's what the state law adds, and here's what this city has approved in the last eighteen months."
Good decisions come from good information. That's true whether you're buying your first home or entitling a forty-unit project.
Where it's headed
We're building toward a simple goal: that anyone making a housing decision in California — owner, builder, investor, or city — can see the full picture in minutes instead of weeks. More housing gets built when the process is legible. I believe that's good for the people who build it, and good for the communities that need it.
If you'd like to see what Citis says about a property you own or are considering, reach out — or visit citis.ai directly.
Questions about your property?
If you'd like to talk through how any of this applies to a specific parcel or plan, reach out — I'll give you a straight answer.
Start a ConversationPayne Sharpley is co-founder of Citis and a Silicon Valley real estate agent with Intero | Forbes Global Properties. CA DRE #02195155.