[Esel Mann]

Sorry to hear about your issue with the place.

Your post has limited details but from what I gather it sounds like you were not able to obtain an occupational license (license to occupy a certain place and do business there) from the city/county?

Now my place is in FL so perhaps CA is different. Here in FL an owner is supposed to technically obtain the occupational license prior to occupying the place of business. It is at that time the city/county reviews the location and your type of business to ensure it meets there codes/standards for doing business. Correct zoning being of course one of those codes.

Thus while the landlord may have told you one thing, it's the city/county who makes the final decision, hence the need to do this process before moving in (and also making any lease contingent upon success of such). So not doing such up front would fall upon you and not the landlord. Again I will reiterate that this is from a FL perspective but I would guess the grand republic of CA is as bad or worse in terms of this type of stuff.

I do hope it all works out with your new place!