WHAT DOES THE CITY of New Orleans ZONING ORDINANCE DO?

ZONING CAN: CONTROL DEVELOPMENT ON PRIVATE PROPERTY Establish districts that insure correspondence to zoning designations on the City’s official Zoning Maps. State what you can and cannot develop on your property.

ZONING CAN: Control the Exterior Design of a building and the Site Includes standards that address the size/dimensions of the site, the distance of the building from property lines. The height of a structure and gives the number of required parking spaces. Address other requirements including but not limited to landscaping, building material types, signage and lightning.

ZONING CAN: Controls the Type of Use on a Parcel of Land Divides the City into a series of zoning districts broken down by residential, neighborhood business, commercial, industrial, and some special use districts. Contain lists of uses that are classified as permitted uses or conditional uses. Provide lists of accessory uses allowed in the district.

Permitted Uses Uses that are allowed to be developed/operated on a site Subject to compliance with the appropriate standards. Examples: site size/dimensions, setbacks, building height, and off-street parking.

Conditional Uses Uses that may or may not be allowed at a particular site. Uses are contained in a list within the individual zoning district regulations. Determined thru a public hearing and a recommendation from the City Planning Commission to the City Council whether a proposed use is allowed. After a public hearing, the City Council will make the decision as to whether the use is allowed and under what conditions.

Accessory Uses Uses that are incidental to and customary in connection with a main building. Uses which are located on the same lot as the main building or uses. Example of accessory uses are sheds, detached garages, swimming pool, etc. The zoning ordinance also contains standards as to how these uses are to be built.

ZONING CAN: Control Where a Building Gets Built Establishes standards that control how a building is built on a site. Specifically what portions of the site can be built on. What portions of the site must remain open, must be used for parking, or must be dedicated to a purpose other than building construction.

ZONING CANNOT DO: Control Development on Public Property It does not control development within the public right of way, this includes the area between the property line and the curb line or the development of property within the median/neutral grounds. Development projects located on parcels of land outside the City’s rights-of-way are subject to compliance with the City’s zoning ordinance. State and Federal projects generally do not have to comply.

ZONING CANNOT DO: Control the Construction and Interior Design of a Building It does not controls the details of the development of the interior of the building beyond any special requirement that may be included in conjunction with a specific use. Example: while the zoning ordinance may regulate the size of a bar area located within a restaurant, it does not determine the design of the bar, the materials used, or the interior treatments of the floors and walls.

ZONING CANNOT DO: Control the Quality of Use on a Parcel of Land While the zoning ordinance may address items that improve the aesthetics or some operational characteristics such as landscaping, litter abatement, and limited hours of operation, the zoning ordinance cannot regulate the operational quality of the site. All like uses are treated similarly and differentiations cannot be drawn based on the quality of the operation or the track record of the owner.

ZONING CANNOT DO: Control whether a Building is Built or is Torn Down While the zoning sets the regulations for what may be built on the land, it cannot require that a building be built and the land can remain vacant. Zoning does not regulate the demolition of buildings. Demolition of buildings in New Orleans is regulated thru the City Code.

Special Thanks to The New Orleans City Planning Commission for the information used in this Module.

Southern University at New Orleans Presented By George L. Amedee, Ph.D. Project Director Southern University at New Orleans Universities Rebuilding America Partnerships May 2009