Under Gov. Code 66498.1, a local agency’s approval of a vesting tentative map confers upon a developer the right to proceed with development in substantial compliance with the ordinances, policies, and standards in effect at the time the vested tentative map is approved. Here, the city approved the developer’s vesting tentative map before its citizens passed an initiative measure that would, if applied, severely restrict the development. This decision holds that since vesting plan approval preceded the initiative measure, the measure cannot apply to the development even though the development is within the Coastal Zone and subject to regulation by the Coastal Commission, which unlike the city did not approve the vesting tentative map and so is not precluded from applying its post-map regulations to the development. Only the city (and its citizens) is bound by its approval of the vesting tentative map.