Jacksonville Zoning Map Guide
Zoning decides what you can do with a property: whether a garage apartment is allowed, whether the vacant lot next door can become a gas station, whether you can run a business from the house, and how big an addition can be. Jacksonville publishes all of it, but across three systems and a long ordinance code. This guide shows where to look and how to read what you find. It is general information, not legal advice; the Planning and Development Department’s answer for a specific parcel is the one that counts.
Step 1: find the zoning on a specific parcel
- JaxGIS (maps.coj.net). The city’s public map. Turn on the Zoning layer, search the address, click the parcel. The pop-up gives the zoning district and, on the Planning layers, the future land-use category and any overlay.
- Duval County Property Appraiser (paopropertysearch.coj.net). Search the address or parcel number; the property record shows zoning and land-use codes along with the assessed value, homestead status and sales history. Useful because it is the same record your title company and lender will pull.
- Planning and Development Department, Zoning Section. For anything you will spend money on, get the zoning verified in writing. They also issue zoning verification letters, which lenders and buyers of commercial or mixed-use property routinely require.
Step 2: read the code households
Jacksonville’s zoning districts are grouped by letters; the number or trailing letter narrows the standard. The main households a homebuyer meets:
| Prefix | Family | What it generally allows |
|---|---|---|
| RR | Rural Residential | Single-family homes on large lots, often with agricultural and animal allowances; common on the Northside and Westside fringe. |
| RLD | Residential Low Density | Single-family detached homes. RLD-60, RLD-90, RLD-100A and similar suffixes set the minimum lot size (roughly 6,000, 9,000 and 10,000 square feet). |
| RMD | Residential Medium Density | Smaller lots, duplexes, townhomes and some multifamily depending on the suffix letter (RMD-A through RMD-D). |
| RHD | Residential High Density | Apartments and condominiums. |
| CO / CN / CRO | Commercial Office, Neighborhood, Residential-Office | Offices and small neighborhood retail; CRO allows a mix of homes and offices and shows up along older corridors. |
| CCG-1 / CCG-2 | Commercial Community/General | Shopping centers, most retail and restaurants; CCG-2 adds heavier commercial uses. |
| IL / IH / IBP | Industrial Light, Heavy, Business Park | Warehousing, manufacturing and logistics, which matter to a buyer mainly as the zoning of what is next door. |
| PUD | Planned Unit Development | A custom rulebook approved for one project. Most large master-planned communities in Duval run on their own PUD ordinance, which you should read for that community. |
| PBF / AGR / MU | Public Buildings, Agriculture, Mixed Use | Schools and government facilities; farms and timber; and the newer mixed-use districts used for walkable redevelopment. |
The full standards for each district (permitted uses, minimum lot size, setbacks, height, parking) are in Chapter 656 of the Jacksonville Ordinance Code, which the city publishes online. When a listing says “zoned RLD-60,” that chapter is where you confirm what that allows.
Step 3: check what sits on top of the zoning
- Future land use. The 2030 Comprehensive Plan category (Low Density Residential, Community/General Commercial, and so on) caps what the parcel can be rezoned to. A buyer who wants to add units later should read this layer, not just the zoning.
- Overlay zones and historic districts. Riverside/Avondale and Springfield are designated historic districts with design review for exterior changes; other corridors carry overlays that adjust signage, setbacks or uses. They add rules; they never remove the base zoning’s.
- PUD ordinances. Inside a PUD, the recorded ordinance replaces the general district standards. Ask the listing agent for it or pull it from the city’s legislative records by the ordinance number.
- Deed restrictions and HOA covenants. Private, recorded with the property, and enforceable regardless of zoning. Zoning may allow a fence or a home business that the covenants prohibit.
- Flood zones. Not zoning, but checked in the same map session: FEMA flood zone determines insurance and elevation rules. Our flood zone guide covers what the letters mean.
When the zoning is not what you need: rezoning, variances, exceptions
A rezoning changes the parcel’s district and goes through the Planning Commission and City Council (the Land Use and Zoning committee first), with public notice and hearings; expect months. A variance asks for relief from a dimensional rule (a setback, lot coverage, height) on a specific parcel where the rule causes a hardship. A zoning exception permits a listed conditional use in a district where it is allowed only by exception. Written zoning verification, the application checklists and the fee schedule are all published by the Planning and Development Department; a land-use attorney is worth the fee for anything beyond a simple variance.
The Beaches and Baldwin have their own maps
Duval County and the City of Jacksonville are consolidated, but Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach and Baldwin remain separate municipalities with their own zoning codes and building departments. A property in 32233 or 32250 is looked up on that city’s map, and its rules on rentals, height and setbacks can differ sharply from Jacksonville’s.
Zoning questions buyers ask
How do I find the zoning of a property in Jacksonville?
Three routes, all free. The City of Jacksonville’s online map (JaxGIS) has a zoning layer you can turn on and click any parcel. The Duval County Property Appraiser’s record for a parcel lists its zoning and land-use codes on the property detail page. And the Planning and Development Department’s Zoning Section will confirm a parcel’s zoning by phone or email, which is the answer to rely on before you close.
What does RLD mean in Jacksonville zoning?
RLD is Residential Low Density, the family of single-family districts (RLD-60, RLD-90, RLD-100A and so on; the number tracks the minimum lot size in hundreds of square feet). RMD is Residential Medium Density (small-lot single-family, duplexes and townhomes depending on the letter), and RHD is Residential High Density (apartments and condominiums). Each district sets what can be built and how large the lot must be; the exact standards live in Chapter 656 of the Jacksonville Ordinance Code.
Is zoning the same as land use?
No. Zoning is the rulebook applied to a parcel today. Future land use is the category the 2030 Comprehensive Plan assigns to the area, which limits what zoning the parcel can ever be changed to. A rezoning has to be consistent with the land-use category; changing the land use itself is a separate, longer amendment process.
Can I build an accessory dwelling unit or rent short-term?
Both depend on the district and, for short-term rentals, on city ordinances that have changed more than once. Check the parcel’s zoning first, then confirm with the Zoning Section and read the current short-term rental rules before you write an offer that depends on either use. If the property is in a homeowners association or a historic district, those rules stack on top of zoning.
Do Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach and Baldwin use the same zoning map?
No. The four smaller municipalities inside Duval County keep their own zoning codes and maps. A parcel with a Jacksonville mailing address at the Beaches is governed by that beach city’s code, not the City of Jacksonville’s, so look it up on the right map.
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General information about public records and procedures, not legal advice; codes and procedures change, and the City of Jacksonville Planning and Development Department is the authority for any parcel. Equal Housing Opportunity.