Zoning guide · Orange County
Orange County zoning and future land use: county, Orlando or another city?
First find whose rules the parcel is under: Orange County's, Orlando's, or one of the twelve other towns and cities'. Then read two things: the zoning district, which sets lot size and uses, and the future land use, which caps density whatever the zoning says. In the county nearly half of zoned parcels are P-D, planned development, so the parcel's own approved plan often holds the real answer.
Step 1: whose rules?
Our map carries two zoning layers in Orange: the county's, and the City of Orlando's. The county's layer marks every other city's land CITY and nothing more. The future land use layer, from a 2020 statewide compilation, does reach into those cities. Here is what each government covers:
| Government | Zoning on our map | Parcels with a land use category |
|---|---|---|
| Orange County | 292,624 parcels, 57 codes | 219,950 |
| City of Orlando | 84,093 parcels, 298 codes | 180,507 |
| Apopka | CITY only | 24,178 |
| Ocoee | CITY only | 18,888 |
| Winter Garden | CITY only | 16,852 |
| Winter Park | CITY only | 12,279 |
| Maitland, Belle Isle, Oakland, Edgewood, Windermere, Eatonville, Reedy Creek | CITY only | 14,468 |
The City of Orlando's zoning page splits it the same way: inside city limits, use the city's property locator; outside them, read the jurisdiction and zoning district on the Orange County Property Appraiser's Info and Land tabs. Searching OCPA.
Step 2: read the county's district
The county publishes a Planning and Zoning Quick Reference Guide; the edition we read is dated January 2024. Its names and minimum lot areas, beside what we count on the map:
| District | Guide's name | Min. lot for a house | Parcels | Median acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P-D | Planned Development | set by its plan | 135,346 | n/a |
| R-1A | Single-family dwelling | 7,500 sq ft | 46,192 | 0.23 |
| R-1 | Single-family dwelling | 5,000 sq ft | 26,996 | 0.19 |
| R-1AA | Single-family dwelling | 10,000 sq ft | 11,120 | 0.32 |
| A-2 | Farmland Rural | half an acre | 10,236 | 1.25 |
| A-1 | Citrus Rural | half an acre | 4,799 | 1.27 |
| R-CE | Country Estate | 1 acre | 4,638 | 1.06 |
P-D is 46.3% of the county's zoned parcels. For one of them, the district name tells you little: the uses, lot sizes and setbacks are in the development's approved plan, so ask the county's zoning office for it. How zoning codes are read.
Step 2, in Orlando: base district plus overlays
Orlando's 298 codes are 33 base districts with overlays added. The city's page says everything after a slash is an overlay. Its Residential Development Standards Guide names them: /AN is the Aircraft Noise Overlay, /T the Traditional City Overlay, /W the Wekiva Overlay, /HP a Historic District, /SP a Special Plan Overlay. On our map 43,935 Orlando parcels carry at least one: /AN on 22,286, /T on 20,148, /W on 8,678, /HP on 1,993. PD is the most common base district, on 28,451 parcels. A code like PD/AN means two sets of rules apply. Another 3,218 parcels inside the city's layer are coded UNINCORPORATED: county pockets surrounded by the city.
Step 3: check the land use cap
The county's guide is plain about it: development is restricted to the maximum density or intensity of the future land use designation, regardless of zoning. Its correlation table puts Rural/Agricultural at one home per ten acres, Low Density Residential at 4 per acre, Low-Medium at 10 and Medium at 20. Of the A-1 and A-2 parcels on our map, 7,229 fall in Rural/Agriculture, so a half-acre zoning minimum does not mean you can split them. Why the plan wins.
- Same name, different ceiling. In the 2020 file, the county's Low Density Residential, on 88,064 parcels, carries a maximum of 4 units an acre. Orlando's category of the same name, on 103,523 parcels, carries 12. Read the jurisdiction beside the name.
- Horizon West's villages. 28,537 parcels sit in the county's Village category, and 27,582 of those are zoned P-D. The guide says land in Horizon West outside an approved village keeps one home per ten acres.
Where the two maps disagree
- Different governments named. On 76,133 parcels the 2020 land use file uses Orlando's plan, while the county's zoning layer puts them under Orange County. Ask the county which designation applies today.
- Orlando land without a city district. 19,687 parcels are marked as Orlando by the county's layer but get no code from the city's. Use the city's locator for them.
- A 2020 snapshot. The land use file was compiled in 2020; plan amendments since then are not in it.
In Map Views
Open a parcel and the report shows the zoning code with the government that set it, the future land use with its plan's own name, its statewide class and its density, and how much of the parcel falls in each when it straddles a line. Search by zoning code or land use class across the county, and keep your notes on the parcel.
Orange County's Planning Division and the City of Orlando's City Planning are the authorities for zoning and land use on their land; each other city answers for its own. Our layers copy their public data, and a written zoning verification from the government is what to rely on.