How do I find my zoning in Los Angeles?
Zoning guide
This is a guide to help those who wish to find the zoning information for a particular property in Los Angeles, CA by themselves.
​
Zoning analysis
It’s helpful to have a guide to make sure you are getting up-to-date, authoritative, and complete zoning information possible. That is what we are providing here.
​
Essentially, there are 3 ways to find the zoning information you need to start any design, construction, or land valuation work.
​
-
Hire a local professional (i.e., architect, contractor, land-use attorney)
-
Do the research yourself
-
Use UrbanForm
There are valid reasons to do any of the above. Depending on how you value your time, your pre-existing familiarity with the codes, and other factors, one or another method may be best for any given set of circumstances.
​
There are many for whom doing it themselves may be their best option.
​
This guide is for those who wish to figure out how best to get the zoning information they need in Los Angeles, California. Please continue reading below.
Navigating the process
Generally, there are 5 steps to the task of acquiring zoning information for any city.
Use the links below to skip to any particular section, or the button below to go back to the very beginning
1. Understanding the jurisdictions.
The City of Los Angeles is part of the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim MSA and is entirely located within Los Angeles County in California.
From Wikipedia: “With roughly 3.9 million residents within the city limits as of 2020, Los Angeles is the second-most populous city in the United States…It covers about 469 square miles (1,210 km), and is the county seat of Los Angeles County, which is the most populous county in the United States with an estimated 9.86 million residents as of 2022.”
The City of LA’s City Planning department provides a good website where links and resources can be found for zoning code information, general and community plans, and land use regulations and policies. (Building permits and construction resources are provided by LA Department of Building and Safety.)
LA City Planning’s website is located at: https://planning.lacity.org/
Navigating the process
Generally, there are 5 steps to the task of acquiring zoning information for any city.
Use the links below to skip to any particular section, or the button below to go back to the very beginning
2. An overview of the zoning code.
The City of Los Angeles provides the following main resources for gathering zoning information:
-
Guide to the Existing Code (how to interpret the code structure)
-
ZIMAS Zoning Search (interactive map for looking up properties)
-
Regulations Summary (summary guides for basic zoning information, but not exhaustive)
​
-
Los Angeles Municipal Code, published online by American Legal
While ZIMAS will show you the full zoning designation for a property, as well as whether certain overlay zones and/or local ordinances apply, it does not display the resulting development standards.
To gain a complete picture of development potential and building regulations for a site, you will still need to search through the Los Angeles Municipal Code (Chapter 1), and possibly examine additional Specific Plans and/or ordinances. More on all of the above to follow.
Navigating the process
Generally, there are 5 steps to the task of acquiring zoning information for any city.
Use the links below to skip to any particular section, or the button below to go back to the very beginning
3. Find the right zoning maps
The City of LA provides an official web-based mapping tool called ZIMAS (Zone Information and Map Access System) where you can find parcel information.
This map is searchable by address, APN and PIN (unique parcel identification numbers), or by navigating through the map with your mouse. (You can also search by more broad categories, such as Community Plan Area.)
Building lines, generalized zoning boundaries, and a rough street map are provided as default layers (and you can manage additional layers via the map toolbar.) Once a specific parcel has been selected, a wide range of land use information can be found under the “Planning and Zoning” drop-down on the left. There you will find the site’s zoning designation, overlays, planning areas, and whether certain state and local ordinances/policies apply.
The ZIMAS map can be found directly at: http://zimas.lacity.org/
Another helpful map is the interactive Citywide Map. While you can’t search by property, it allows you to view precise zoning boundaries (not only generalized categories), and also provides the option to layer on certain common overlays.
What both maps omit, of course, is any further information pertaining to development regulations. For those, you will need to go into the zoning code text.
Navigating the process
Generally, there are 5 steps to the task of acquiring zoning information for any city.
Use the links below to skip to any particular section, or the button below to go back to the very beginning
4. Read the zoning text
The zoning code text itself is contained within the City of Los Angeles Municipal Code (LAMC), published by American Legal.
The code is located here: Los Angeles Municipal Code, Chapter I (Planning and Zoning Code)
Regulations pertaining to land use, development, and zoning are all found in Chapter I: General Provisions and Zoning.
The most relevant sections are Article 2 (focuses on base zones) and Article 3 (focuses on supplemental use districts and overlays), though important additional regulations may be found in other Articles as well.
Importantly, the LA City Planning website notes that information on supplementary regulations may be found in the text of standalone ordinances, a list of which can be found here.
4a. How to read a zone name in LA
Zone names or zoning designations often are the key to understanding the structure and organization of the zoning code text. Because of that, it can often make sense to understand how zones are named first.
For Los Angeles, the zone categories and base zone names are as shown above. Most base zones are discussed in Chapter 1, Article 2. However, some Specific Plan Zones and their regulations are found in the documentation of these Specific Plans. (This webpage lists all Specific Plans and provides links to each plan’s text, ordinance, maps, etc.)
It is important to note that additional regulations that supersede or modify the underlying base zone designations are often found in later in Article 2, such as detailed height regulations and incentive programs.
To learn more about local policies and programs that might impact development regulations, visit https://planning.lacity.org/ and click “Plans & Policies” or “Historic Preservation” in the top menu.
Another helpful resource for understanding LA’s zoning structure and basic development standards is the General Summary: Zoning Regulations PDF document. (Though note that this is a guide and is not exhaustive.)
​
Actual zone designations may still need a bit of deciphering. For instance, you will find zone designations such as [Q]C2-1D-CDO or ADP-RIO. Here’s how to understand those names.
In Los Angeles, zoning designations generally follow the pattern shown above. A good description of each of the five zone components can be found here. Some components will not apply to all sites, and other times a component may contain multiple values. As a result, some sites may have longer or shorter zoning designations than you see above.
Generally, the “Zone Classification” component shown above can be thought of as the base zone.
Los Angeles Specific Plan Zones:
-
CCS Century City South Studio Zone
-
CM (GM) Commercial Manufacturing (Glencoe/Maxella) Zone
-
CW Central City West Specific Plan Zone
-
WC Warner Center Specific Plan Zone à multiple zones with (WC) prefix
-
ADP Alameda District Specific Plan Zone
-
LASED Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment District Specific Plan Zone
-
LAX Los Angeles International Airport Specific Plan Zone
-
USC-1A University of Southern California University Park Campus Specific Plan Subarea 1A Zone
-
USC-1B University of Southern California University Park Campus Specific Plan Subarea 1B Zone
-
USC-2 University of Southern California University Park Campus Specific Plan Subarea 2 Zone
-
USC-3 University of Southern California University Park Campus Specific Plan Subarea 3 Zone
-
PVSP Ponte Vista at San Pedro Specific Plan Zone
-
EC Exposition Corridor Transit Neighborhood Plan (Specific Plan) Zone à multiple zones with (EC) suffix
In addition to traditional base zone categories (residential, commercial, etc.), LA also has Specific Plan Zones that serve as base zones. The above Specific Plan Zones are found in Article 2 of the zoning code, after the traditional base zones.
LA has many more specific plans (which you can find listed here), but not all generate their own base zone(s). However, the following additional Specific Plan Zones can be found in the city’s official zoning GIS layer.
-
Jordan Downs Urban Specific Village Plan: multiple zones with (UV) suffix
-
Oxford Triangle Specific Plan: multiple zones with (OX) as suffix
-
PPSP: Paramount Pictures Specific Plan
-
Park Mile Specific Plan: multiple zones with (PKM) as suffix
-
Playa Vista Specific Plan: multiple zones with (PV) as suffix
-
Cornfield Arroyo Seco Specific Plan: multiple zones with (CA) as suffix
-
CCA Convention Center and Arena / CEC Convention and Events Center Specific Plan
In addition to the “Zoning Classification” or base zones, the following zoning components may modify or supersede the base zone development standards or permitted land uses.
Prefix
Qualified Zone Classification: may impose either temporary or permanent use or scale restrictions on a property (Sec. 12.32.G.2-3)
-
Options: (Q), [Q], Q
Tentative Zone Classification: indicates tentative zone classification, pending certain required dedications, payments, or improvements (Sec. 12.32.G.1)
-
Options: (T), [T], T
Height District
Specifies the maximum building height and permitted floor area ratio (FAR) (Sec. 12.21)
-
Options: 1, 1L, 1VL, 1XL, 1SS, 2, 3, 4
D Limits (Development Limitation)
May further restrict height, FAR, and other development standards (Sec. 12.32.G.4)
-
D limit applies if “D” follows height district
Overlay / Supplemental Use Districts
While the above regulations are primarily found in Article 2 of the LAMC, Supplemental Use Districts and Overlay Zones are discussed in Article 3.
* The one exception is the Historical Preservation Overlay Zone (written as HP or HPOZ) which is found in Article 2, Section 12.20.3.
These are the overlay zones that UrbanForm has learned modify base regulations and therefore are tracked by UrbanForm.
Several of LA’s incentive programs, such as the city’s “Affordable Housing Density Bonus” and “Transit Oriented Communities Incentive Program” are discussed in LAMC Chapter 1, Article 2, Section 12.22 “Exceptions.” These programs are typically aimed at encouraging the construction of affordable housing by way of relaxed development standards.
Discovering if your property is within one of the designated areas and qualifies for some of the incentives can completely alter the development potential for a property.
You can also learn more about these policies by visiting LA City Planning’s Housing Policy page.
Navigating the process
Generally, there are 5 steps to the task of acquiring zoning information for any city.
Use the links below to skip to any particular section, or the button below to go back to the very beginning
If you've had enough, that's ok. UrbanForm has automated this entire process so you no longer have to do it manually by yourself.
5. Document clearly the information and sources you've researched
Once you've determined the correct jurisdiction, the right sources of information, gotten a general understanding of the structure of the zoning, found the maps, and identified all relevant base zone code designations as well as overlays, plan districts, and other location information, and read through the zoning code to identify the relevant parts, you now need to make sure you can reference this information easily.
​
Zoning information needs to be studied, communicated to others, verified it with others, and used to justify your work. So the documentation of the zoning information you've researched is extremely important.
​
This no small task, and the one that will save you the most time if you do it properly.
​
Professionals often develop their own internal spreadsheets and documents to guide them through this process for each jurisdiction. This should be a part of their internal operations that help them create efficient professional processes.
​
But the basic task is the same in any such process:
-
identify the relevant information,
-
write it down somewhere, and
-
note the sources.
​
Everything in this guide up until this point was just about accomplishing task number 1 above; each person will have their own preferred way of doing numbers 2 and 3.
We understand that there are times when the old-fashioned, manual way of acquiring zoning information may be the most suitable. UrbanForm was developed as an alternative.
​
Also, we understand that the sources are constantly evolving. One of UrbanForm's primary values is continual improvement, so if there is anything that anyone sees which could be improved, we'd love to hear from you. Leave a comment or reach out to us at our contact information below.
