Scottsdale, Arizona Zoning Map
Zoning, overlays and hazards on every parcel — and an answer to what the code actually lets you build. Compiled from current zoning data for all 247 districts.
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What's in the Scottsdale dataset
Every field below is available for any Scottsdale parcel, on the map and through the AI.
Zoning
- District code & full name
- Category & ordinance article
- Parcel boundary & APN
- All 247 districts mapped
Use classes, resolved
- Permitted by right
- Conditional or by appeal
- Restricted / prohibited
- Read per zoning district
Building controls
- Max building height (ft)
- Max coverage
- Max density du (per acre)
- Max far
Overlays, hazards & AI
- Overlay & combining districts
- Flood hazard & environmental layers
- Ask the AI about any parcel
- Powered by live parcel data
What can you build in Scottsdale's largest districts?
Setback, height, lot and coverage standards. 4 districts shown; all 247 are in the app.
Neighborhood Commercial Environmentally Sensitive Lands Foothills Overlay
- Min lot area
- FO: [Maximum size of any single accessory building: (For Parcel size 32000 to 69999 sq ft: 6000, For Parcel size 70000 to 189999 sq ft: 12000, For Parcel size 190000 sq ft or more: 35000)]
- Min lot width
- —
- Front yard
- C-1: (Residential district development standard where the C-1 district is on the same side of the street and is located within 100 feet of a residential lot zoned with a single family residential district or the single family residential portion of a Planned Community P-C or any portion of a Planned Residential Development PRD with an underlying zoning district comparable to the single family residential district)
- Side yards
- C-1: (From a single family residential district or the single family residential portion of a Planned Community P-C or any portion of a Planned Residential Development PRD with an underlying zoning district comparable to the single family residential districts: 50 including any alley width, From a multiple family residential district: 25 feet including any alley width), FO: [Accessory buildings: (For Parcel size 32000 to 69999 sq ft: 5, For Parcel size 70000 to 189999 sq ft: 10, For Parcel size 190000 sq ft or more: 15)]
- Rear yard
- C-1: (From a single family residential district or the single family residential portion of a Planned Community P-C or any portion of a Planned Residential Development PRD with an underlying zoning district comparable to the single family residential districts: 50 including any alley width, From a multiple family residential district: 25 feet including any alley width), FO: [Accessory buildings: (For Parcel size 32000 to 69999 sq ft: 5, For Parcel size 70000 to 189999 sq ft: 10, For Parcel size 190000 sq ft or more: 15)]
- Max coverage
- For Parcel size 32000 to 69999 sq ft: 60, For Parcel size 70000 to 189999 sq ft: 55, For Parcel size 190000 sq ft or more: 45
- Max height
- C-1: 36, ESL: (In the hillside landform shall be the height prescribed by the underlying district or 30 feet whichever is lower, Additional height: Development Review Board may permit additional building heights in the hillside landform up to 40 feet), FO: (24, Institutional buildings: 40 feet provided that the buildings are set back from each property line at least 25 feet for each 1 foot of additional building height above 24 feet) ft
Neighborhood Commercial Center Planned Community District
- Min lot area
- PNC District size: (Minimum: 174240, Maximum: 653400), PCD District Size: (Within the boundaries of the single Central Business District: 10 acres, Outside the boundaries of the single Central Business District: 160 acres)
- Min lot width
- —
- Front yard
- C-1: (Residential district development standard where the C-1 district is on the same side of the street and is located within 100 feet of a residential lot zoned with a single family residential district or the single family residential portion of a Planned Community P-C or any portion of a Planned Residential Development PRD with an underlying zoning district comparable to the single family residential district)
- Side yards
- C-1: (From a single family residential district or the single family residential portion of a Planned Community P-C or any portion of a Planned Residential Development PRD with an underlying zoning district comparable to the single family residential districts: 50 including any alley width, From a multiple family residential district: 25 feet including any alley width), PNC: (From an abutting property line or an alley adjacent to a property with a residential district or the residential portion of a Planned Community P-C or any portion of a Planned Residential Development with an underlying zoning district comparable to the residential district: 80)
- Rear yard
- C-1: (From a single family residential district or the single family residential portion of a Planned Community P-C or any portion of a Planned Residential Development PRD with an underlying zoning district comparable to the single family residential districts: 50 including any alley width, From a multiple family residential district: 25 feet including any alley width), PNC: (From an abutting property line or an alley adjacent to a property with a residential district or the residential portion of a Planned Community P-C or any portion of a Planned Residential Development with an underlying zoning district comparable to the residential district: 80)
- Max coverage
- —
- Max height
- 36 ft
Neighborhood Commercial Environmentally Sensitive Lands
- Min lot area
- —
- Min lot width
- —
- Front yard
- C-1: (Residential district development standard where the C-1 district is on the same side of the street and is located within 100 feet of a residential lot zoned with a single family residential district or the single family residential portion of a Planned Community P-C or any portion of a Planned Residential Development PRD with an underlying zoning district comparable to the single family residential district)
- Side yards
- C-1: (From a single family residential district or the single family residential portion of a Planned Community P-C or any portion of a Planned Residential Development PRD with an underlying zoning district comparable to the single family residential districts: 50 including any alley width, From a multiple family residential district: 25 feet including any alley width)
- Rear yard
- C-1: (From a single family residential district or the single family residential portion of a Planned Community P-C or any portion of a Planned Residential Development PRD with an underlying zoning district comparable to the single family residential districts: 50 including any alley width, From a multiple family residential district: 25 feet including any alley width)
- Max coverage
- —
- Max height
- C-1: 36, ESL: (In the hillside landform shall be the height prescribed by the underlying district or 30 feet whichever is lower, Additional height: Development Review Board may permit additional building heights in the hillside landform up to 40 feet) ft
Neighborhood Commercial Downtown Overlay
- Min lot area
- —
- Min lot width
- —
- Front yard
- C-1: (Residential district development standard where the C-1 district is on the same side of the street and is located within 100 feet of a residential lot zoned with a single family residential district or the single family residential portion of a Planned Community P-C or any portion of a Planned Residential Development PRD with an underlying zoning district comparable to the single family residential district)
- Side yards
- C-1: (From a single family residential district or the single family residential portion of a Planned Community P-C or any portion of a Planned Residential Development PRD with an underlying zoning district comparable to the single family residential districts: 50 including any alley width, From a multiple family residential district: 25 feet including any alley width)
- Rear yard
- C-1: (From a single family residential district or the single family residential portion of a Planned Community P-C or any portion of a Planned Residential Development PRD with an underlying zoning district comparable to the single family residential districts: 50 including any alley width, From a multiple family residential district: 25 feet including any alley width)
- Max coverage
- —
- Max height
- 36 ft
Dimensional standards for all 247 Scottsdale districts
Plus permitted use classes, overlays and hazard layers per parcel.
Scottsdale, Arizona Zoning Districts: What Do They Mean?
Zoning districts are areas regulated by specific laws that determine land use, building types, and development rules. Each district below shows its zone type and which uses it permits.
| Zone Code | Category | Permitted Uses | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
C-1 Neighborhood Commercial | Commercial |
| Standards & uses → |
C-1/(C) Neighborhood Commercial C | Commercial |
| Standards & uses → |
C-1/DO Neighborhood Commercial Downtown Overlay | Overlay |
| Standards & uses → |
C-1/ESL Neighborhood Commercial Environmentally Sensitive Lands | Commercial |
| Standards & uses → |
Showing 4 of 247 districts
Start from what you're trying to build
Each one runs against the live Scottsdale dataset and returns the districts, standards and approvals involved.
How is Scottsdale zoned?
Scottsdale's roster carries 247 zoning symbols, far more than any other large Arizona city. The number is real but it is not a count of separate districts: only 42 of those symbols are base districts. The remaining 214 are base districts combined with one or more overlays, written as a compound symbol with slashes - C-2/DO, R1-35/ESL, S-R/PCD/ESL.
The reason is that Scottsdale governs a large area of desert and mountain terrain through the Environmentally Sensitive Lands Overlay, and ESL appears in 95 of the 247 symbols. ESL is an overlay, not a replacement: the underlying district still sets what may be built and to what standards, and ESL modifies that by requiring land to be kept as natural open space and by protecting washes, ridges and vegetation. A parcel zoned R1-35/ESL is an R1-35 parcel with those additional constraints, not a different district.
Other overlays stack the same way. Planned district designations appear in 57 symbols, a downtown overlay in 37, and foothills and historic property overlays in 12 each. Because they combine, a single parcel can carry three or four at once, which is why symbols such as C-2/ESL/(HD) exist and why the list runs so long.
The base districts themselves are conventional. R1 districts are single-family, with the numeral tracking lot size approximately rather than exactly - R1-7 states 7,000 square feet and R1-35 states 35,000, but R1-5 states 4,700. C-2 is the Central Business district and S-R is Service Residential. Across all 247 symbols, 52 permit single-family, 38 permit multifamily, 69 permit an accessory dwelling and 194 permit commercial use.
Scottsdale zoning: frequently asked questions
Why does Scottsdale have 247 zoning symbols?
Because the roster lists base districts combined with overlays, not districts alone. Only 42 are base districts; the other 214 are combinations written with slashes, such as C-2/DO or S-R/PCD/ESL. A parcel does not sit in 247 possible districts - it sits in one base district that may carry several overlays at once.
What is the ESL overlay in Scottsdale?
The Environmentally Sensitive Lands Overlay, which governs development across Scottsdale's desert and mountain terrain. It appears in 95 of the 247 symbols. ESL does not replace the underlying zoning: the base district still determines permitted uses and standards, while ESL adds requirements to preserve natural area open space and to protect features such as washes, ridges and native vegetation.
What does a symbol like R1-35/ESL mean?
It is a single R1-35 parcel - single-family residential with a 35,000 square foot minimum lot - that also falls inside the Environmentally Sensitive Lands Overlay. Read the base district first for what may be built, then the overlay for what it adds. Where several overlays stack, as in C-2/ESL/(HD), each contributes its own layer of requirements to the same parcel.
Do the numbers in Scottsdale's R1 districts mean lot size?
Approximately, but not exactly, so check rather than assume. R1-7 states a 7,000 square foot minimum, R1-10 states 10,000, R1-18 states 18,000 and R1-35 states 35,000 - but R1-5 states 4,700 square feet, not 5,000, and R1-43 states 43,000 rather than the 43,560 square feet in an acre. The numeral is a label, and the stated minimum is the figure that governs.
Which Scottsdale zones allow multifamily?
38 of the 247 symbols permit multifamily housing, against 52 permitting single-family, 69 permitting an accessory dwelling and 194 permitting commercial use. Because most symbols are base-plus-overlay combinations, the same base district appears repeatedly with different overlays, and an overlay such as ESL can constrain how much of a site is actually buildable.
Arizona zoning maps
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Zoning data is pre-development intelligence, not legal advice. Verify with the Scottsdale planning department before acquisition or design.