Guide · Zoning
Florida zoning codes explained: R-1, R-2, RC, A-1, AU, PUD, and where to read what each allows
Florida has no statewide list of zoning districts. Each county zones its unincorporated land and each city zones its own, and every one of them names its districts in its own land development code, so R-1, RC or A-1 means only what that government wrote. Find out which government zones the parcel, read that district's section of its code, and get the planning office's answer in writing before you rely on it.
The same letters, different rules
On our map, 9,479,596 parcels carry a zoning code from one of 228 local governments in 46 counties. Between them they use 4,061 different code strings. Many repeat from place to place, and the meaning does not travel with them. Here is what a few common codes stand for, in the words of the government that drew each district:
| Code | Where | What that jurisdiction calls it | Parcels |
|---|---|---|---|
| A-1 | Marion County | General agriculture | 40,000 |
| A-1 | City of Homestead | One-family district, one-acre estates | 6 |
| A1 | City of Miami Shores | Multi-family residential district | 442 |
| RC | Volusia County | Resource corridor | 11,392 |
| RC | Gainesville | Residential conservation | 998 |
| RC | City of Zephyrhills | Recreation and conservation | 31 |
| R-2 | City of Hialeah | One- and two-family residential | 1,753 |
| R-2 | City of Plant City | Multiple-family dwellings | 807 |
| R-2 | City of Winter Haven | Single family, 6,000 sq ft minimum | 5,983 |
| R1 | City of Cape Coral | Single-family residential | 113,731 |
| R1 | Santa Rosa County | Single family inside an airport clear zone | 40,473 |
So A-1 is farmland in Marion County, while A1 in Miami Shores is a multi-family district. An R-2 lot may allow a duplex in Hialeah but only one house in Winter Haven. Read the code together with the name of the government that wrote it, never alone.
The codes you will see most
- PUD, PD, P-D, MPUD, RPUD. Planned development. PUD alone is used by 81 jurisdictions and covers 709,873 parcels, more than any other code. The district has no fixed rules of its own: each one is approved with an ordinance and a site plan, and those are what you read.
- R-1, R1, RS-1, RU-1. Usually the lowest-density single-family district. R-1 appears in 76 jurisdictions (426,289 parcels), but its minimum lot ranges from city lots to Putnam County's 15,000 square feet.
- R-2, R-3, R-4. Higher numbers usually mean more units, but where single family ends and multi-family begins is set locally.
- A, A-1, AG, AR. Agriculture or rural residential, often with a minimum acreage per home.
- AU. On our map it exists only in Miami-Dade: the county's own AU is "agricultural / residential, 5 acres gross" (9,181 parcels), and four of its cities use the same letters.
- RC. No common meaning at all, as the table shows.
How to read what a district allows
- Find who zones the parcel. Inside city limits, the city; outside, the county. The city in the street address is not proof: a postal city name often covers unincorporated land around the city.
- Copy the exact code, hyphen and suffix included. R-1A and R-1 are different districts in Putnam County.
- Open that government's land development code and find the district's section. Most Florida cities and counties publish theirs online, many in the Municode library. Look for the permitted uses, the uses that need a special exception, the minimum lot size and width, setbacks, height and density.
- Check for overlays. A corridor, historic or airport overlay can add rules the base district does not mention.
- Ask the planning or zoning office to confirm the district in writing. Many offer a zoning verification letter.
Where this stops
- A code without words: 43.7% of the zoned parcels on our map have a bare code with no description from the jurisdiction's layer. The land development code still has the answer.
- The layers are each government's GIS copy of its zoning, not the adopted official map. A recent rezoning can be missing.
- Zoning is half of the answer. The comprehensive plan's future land use can cap what a rezoning could ever allow: see future land use vs zoning.
- 21 counties have no zoning on our map. The county list says which, and where they publish theirs.
On Map Views
Open a parcel and the report gives its zoning code, the jurisdiction's description when it has one, and the jurisdiction's name, with each district's share of the lot when a line crosses it. The zoning layer draws district lines labeled with their codes. In search, pick a county and you can filter by any of its codes, each listed with its jurisdiction and its count of parcels.
The jurisdiction's adopted zoning map and land development code are the authority. Our layer shows each government's published GIS data as it was fetched; confirm the district with its planning office before you buy or apply.