Land Use and Zoning 101: Zoning 101

This is the last in a three-part series on Land Use and Zoning 101.

In our previous blog post we talked about the Future Land Use Map or FLUM. The FLUM is part of the Land Use Chapter in the City of Raleigh’s 2030 Comprehensive Plan. The Comprehensive Plan is a policy document to guide how the City grows through the year 2030. 

This post will talk about what zoning is, and how it ties into the Comprehensive Plan. Zoning is the law regulating how property can be used. It also controls  how tall a building can be, how far from the street and other buildings it has to be, where the entrance should be and much more. The Raleigh’s zoning code is online in the Unified Development Ordinance or the UDO. The purpose of the UDO is:

“...to preserve, protect and promote the public health, safety and general welfare of residents and businesses in the City.” 

The UDO is the rule book that explains what you can and cannot do in each zoning district. For example, if you live in an area zoned Neighborhood Mixed Use or “NX” you might have a mix of business and homes. Other neighborhoods may have Residential or “R-” zoning. These “R-” neighborhoods often do not have businesses mixed in. The zoning and the UDO are the tools that shape what neighborhoods look like and how or if they change. 

An online zoning map is maintained by the Planning and Development Department. (A snip of the map is inset) As we discussed in a previous post, every piece of land in Raleigh has a Future Land Use Map or FLUM designation. The same is also true for the zoning, every piece of land in Raleigh has a zoning designation. 

The Future Land Use Map tells us what the zoning should be in the future. The zoning map tells us what is allowed to be built today. We will dig deeper into how each of these tools work in the future.