Like others have said, go bigger if possible. We built a 1000sqft shop/3 stall garage a couple years ago and now wish it was 3 times as big.
Good luck with your planning and permitting! Sounds like it could be quite the process in CA.
I'm glad to live in a small town with minimal zoning/permitting requirements. $25 to the city for a permit, a napkin sketch and go! Of course it has some drawbacks. One of my employees recenlty figured out his neighbor built a garage 7' on his property. The neighbor has been dragging his feet on taking an offer to buy the strip of land it's on. I told my guy that he has two options to get his attention. 1. Build a divide wall 7' in and start storing stuff there or 2. Borrow our chainsaw and skid loader, show up at 6am and make him real nervous!
