Guide · City of Miami zoning
Miami 21 zoning on a parcel: how to read a City of Miami transect code
A City of Miami parcel's zoning code under Miami 21 reads in up to three parts: the transect (T3 to T6, or CI, CS, D1 to D3), then for T6 the most stories allowed by right, then R, L or O, which run from homes only to shops, offices and hotels. Read the code off the parcel, then look up that zone's row in the code's height, density and use tables before you count on it.
Step 1: confirm Miami 21 applies
Miami 21 covers the City of Miami only. Coral Gables, Miami Beach, Hialeah and unincorporated Miami-Dade each zone under their own codes, with their own names. A City of Miami folio starts with 01; our Miami-Dade folio guide explains the rest of the number. On our map, 141,904 parcels carry a Miami 21 code, under 36 distinct codes.
Step 2: take the code apart
Take T6-36A-O. Each piece answers a different question:
| Part | Example | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| Transect | T6 | How urban the zone is: T1 natural, T3 sub-urban, T4 general urban, T5 urban center, T6 urban core. CS is civic space, CI civic institution, D1 to D3 work, industrial and waterfront industrial districts. |
| Height (T6 only) | 36 | The most stories a principal building may have by right: 8, 12, 24, 36, 48, 60 or 80. |
| Variant (some T6) | A | A different floor lot ratio at the same height. In the 2011 tables, T6-36a allowed 12 and T6-36b 22; T6-48 and T6-60 allowed 11 or 18. |
| Sub-zone | O | R (restricted), L (limited) or O (open): how many kinds of use the zone takes. |
Step 3: read what the zone allows
The code's Article 4 sets heights and densities for each transect, and its Table 3 marks each use R (allowed by right), W (by warrant, an administrative approval) or E (by exception, a hearing). In the tables as adopted in 2011:
- T3, the house zones. Two stories at most. T3-R allows one dwelling on a lot, T3-L one dwelling plus an outbuilding that can hold an ancillary unit, T3-O two dwellings, a duplex. Density is 9 units an acre in R and L and 18 in O.
- T4. Up to three stories and 36 units an acre, with apartments by right in all three sub-zones. Offices, restaurants and general shops come in only with L and O.
- T5. Two stories at least and five at most, 65 units an acre. Hotels join the by-right list in T5-L and T5-O.
- T6. Two stories at least, the number in the code at most, and 150 units an acre unless the code's Diagram 9 sets another figure. Bonus height can be earned on top, except on a T6 lot that abuts T3.
- D1, D2, D3. Up to eight stories. D1 allows homes at 36 units an acre; D2 and D3 have no residential density.
- CI and CS. Civic land. CI takes the density of the lowest zone it abuts; CS is public open space, with no residential density at all.
So the same street can hold a T3-R lot where one house is the limit and, across the alley, a T5-O lot where an apartment building with shops is allowed by right.
How the City of Miami's parcels split
Counted by transect, with the use each parcel has on the state's 2026 roll. Vacant means state use codes 000, 010, 040, 070 and 080.
| Transect | Parcels | Condo units | Single-family | Vacant |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T6 Urban Core | 67,342 | 56,441 | 181 | 2,314 |
| T3 Sub-Urban | 48,495 | 2,528 | 31,458 | 2,663 |
| T5 Urban Center | 13,260 | 7,199 | 635 | 1,264 |
| T4 General Urban | 9,905 | 4,220 | 1,193 | 906 |
| D1, D2, D3 Districts | 1,950 | 0 | 72 | 517 |
| CI and CI-HD Civic Institution | 641 | 0 | 6 | 292 |
| CS Civic Space | 295 | 0 | 0 | 187 |
| T1 Natural | 16 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
T6 parcels are mostly condo units, 56,441 of 67,342, because each unit has its own folio. Leave those out and the land under the towers is small: 4,826 lots outside condos are T6-8, but only 913 are T6-80 and 145 are T6-60. Across T3 to T6, 78,293 parcels are in an O sub-zone, 39,093 in R and 21,616 in L.
Where it stops
- The code has been amended since 2011. The figures above come from the tables as adopted. The City publishes the amended code, linked from the Miami 21 code page; read the current table for any number a deal rests on.
- Special area plans change the rules. Appendices such as the Design District, Brickell City Centre, Miami Worldcenter and Wynwood NRD-1 set their own standards over the base transect, and the Neighborhood Conservation Districts add theirs.
- W and E mean approval. A use marked W or E is possible, not promised.
- The comprehensive plan also caps density. Read the parcel's future land use with its zoning.
On Map Views
Type a City of Miami address and the report shows the Miami 21 code with City of Miami as its source, the future land use, the flood zone, storm surge and evacuation zone, the owner and its Sunbiz filing, and your notes. In search, pick Miami-Dade and the zoning list groups the codes by city, each with its parcel count; add T6-8-O and state use code 000 to list the vacant T6-8 lots, then export or keep them on the map. For codes in other counties, see Florida zoning codes explained.
The City of Miami's adopted code and its zoning tool are the authority on a parcel's zone and what it allows. The code on our map is the City's zoning layer as published; confirm it with the Planning and Zoning Department before anything important rests on it.