Zoning regulations may appear complex, but their importance cannot be underestimated for real estate owners and developers alike. Understanding them is of vital importance for successful outcomes.
Certain zoning rules are more stringent than others and can restrict how often and where businesses can open, as well as their size requirements.
Residential
Zoning regulations for residential areas aim to create environments in which people can enjoy living, reduce the visual dominance of cars on city streets, provide open space and other natural amenities that promote wellbeing, foster strong senses of community among residents and protect certain features such as ridgelines, creeks, wetlands, old trees and other landmarks from excessive development.
Regulations vary greatly by region, but usually cover topics like whether or not an ADU such as a garage apartment or in-law suite can be added onto a home and its maximum size; they also regulate how much commercial space can be included within residential neighborhoods and determine height limits on buildings.
Local zoning laws may also prohibit businesses deemed “adult entertainment” within certain distances of homes, while often mandating that condominium buildings provide separate entrance facilities for each unit in their complexes.
Commercial
Zoning codes may seem complex at first, but they serve an integral role in commercial real estate regulation. Zoning laws determine the size, scale and location of business activities relative to residential neighborhoods allowing brokers and investors to more accurately analyze investment opportunities and constraints.
No one wants their neighborhood overrun by shopping centers; that is why zoning laws exist to prevent unfavorable land use scenarios.
Zoning laws can help preserve cultural heritage by requiring new construction to fit with a community’s architectural character, with historic districts typically having stricter building requirements and noise limits than surrounding areas.
Industrial
Zoning helps cities preserve their distinct identity as they expand, by discouraging incompatible uses such as homes next door to factories. Zoning also encourages affordable housing units. Finally, it serves to protect unique natural resources while assuring adequate public services like water and sewer.
Zoning ordinances examined here may contain controls using performance standards to regulate industrial plants. These typically consist of bulk, lot coverage and yard standards (Table 7). However, in most instances industrial waste standards appear to serve only to supplement existing sanitary district controls; there appears to be no objective measurement of such issues as air pollution or noise emissions. In contrast, provisions pertaining to toxic gases aim at setting safe maximum concentration levels that would be enforced according to standards set forth by state departments of health – an approach which seems particularly sensible as other solutions seem unlikely.
Agricultural
Zoning laws play an integral role in protecting and supporting agriculture within a municipality. Zoning zones often feature restrictions on non-farm structures like houses, barns and sheds as well as maximum front, side and rear yard sizes; building coverage limits for impervious surfaces; height restrictions as well as provisions that allow housing for farm laborers if there is insufficient worker accommodation available.
Farmers and other community members should be informed about the zoning process and encouraged to participate through workshops and newsletters. Furthermore, they should be made aware of its advantages and disadvantages of various approaches; one such is large lot zoning, where residential development is limited by increasing minimum land lot sizes for farms – this approach may actually backfire by encouraging landowners to subdivide their farms into smaller lots resulting in loss of agricultural land for housing – thus justifying use-based zoning as the more balanced approach.