Glossary of Zoning Terms
Zoning discussions can be a confounding stew of letters and numbers. What does it all mean? It's important to understand the terms.
Durham City/County Zoning Ordinance
The Durham City/County Zoning Ordinance is available online in HTML format. The Table of Contents for Section 4 describes the various zoning designations. Linked sub-sections discuss the requirements for each zoning designation. Direct links to relevant sub-sections are included below.
The new (and not yet approved) Unified Development Ordinance has a similar Article 4 listing of Zoning Districts. In one of many changes, R-20 will become RS-20 (Residential Suburban).
Zoning Terms
R-10 — Residential, with single-family homes on 10,000 square foot (1/4 acre) lots. Section 4A.4
R-20 — Residential, with single-family homes on 20,000 square foot (1/2 acre) lots. Section 4A.2
RM-# — Residential Multifamily, with with # units per acre averaged over the entire tract. Section 4A.8
PDR-# — Planned Density Residential, with # units per acre averaged over the entire tract. Its goal is design flexibility. Wetlands, steep slopes, utility right-of-ways and other unbuildable areas are factored into designs as green space. PDR zoning can also allow for smooth transitions between single-family subdivisions and denser uses. Woodcroft is an excellent example. Section 4B.1
O & I —
Office and Institutional. O & I -1 is "Transitional", low intensity office and institutional uses compatible with neighboring low density residential areas.
O & I -2 is "General", and is designed for sites on busy roads near more intense development.
Section 4C.1 and
Section 4C.2.
MU — Mixed Use. Section 4B.2
NC — Neighborhood Commercial: limited commercial uses to satisfy the needs of the surrounding neighborhood. Section 4D.1
SC — Shopping Center. Intended to encourage concentration of commercial activities with an overall design scheme, at major intersections or along major roads serving many neighborhoods. Section 4D.2
More Zoning Designations are listed in the City Ordinance.
More Alphabet Soup
(D) attached to a rezoning designation — for instance, R-20 to RM-16(D) — means that the rezoning has a development plan attached to it. If the parcel is rezoned, then development must be done according to that plan.
F/J-B Overlay: the F/J-B (Falls/Jordan) watershed protection overlay district.
Case Number P04-25 would be the 25th application submitted in the year 2004.
Case Numbers Beginning in "A" are Amendments.