Austin zoning map codes: what SF-3, GR, MU and NP actually stand for
Base districts and combining districts are two different things
§25-2-32 does not give one flat list. It gives base districts in four families — residential, commercial, industrial and special purpose — and then, separately, combining districts.
The difference matters for reading anything else in the code. A base district is what the land fundamentally is. A combining district attaches to one: §25-2-33(B) says a combining district is classified in the hierarchy according to the base district with which it is combined, which only makes sense if something is underneath it.
| Family | How many | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Residential base · §(B) | 16 | LA, RR, SF-1 … SF-6, MF-1 … MF-6, MH |
| Commercial base · §(C) | 13 | NO, LO, GO, CR, LR, GR, L, CBD, DMU, W/LO, CS, CS-1, CH |
| Industrial base · §(D) | 4 | IP, MI, LI, R&D |
| Special purpose base · §(E) | 9 | DR, AV, AG, PUD, P, TN, TOD, NBG, ERC |
| Combining · §(F) | 24 | H, HD, CO, NC, PDA, WO, MU, VMU, V, CVC, CD, PS, DP, DC, CC, CURE, EA, NP, UNO, DB90, ETOD, DBETOD, DBCS |
The Congress Avenue combining district is also listed at (F)(12); see the note below on how it is printed.
The letters are not always a clue
Some map codes are what you would guess. SF-3 is family residence, MF-6 is multifamily residence highest density, MU is mixed use.
Others are not, and two in particular catch people out. LR is neighborhood commercial and GR is community commercial — the smaller district and the larger one, with letters that suggest nothing of the sort. L is lake commercial while LA is Lake Austin residence and LI is limited industrial services. CR is commercial recreation, a base district, while CO is a conditional overlay, a combining district. There is no system to recover here; the list is the authority.
Why "or less restrictive" is a real instruction
Chapter 25 is full of rules that apply "in an MF-1 or less restrictive base district". That phrase is only usable because §25-2-33(A) puts the residential, commercial and industrial districts in a single line running from LA at the most restrictive end to LI at the least.
So a rule written for "MF-1 or less restrictive" reaches every commercial and industrial district too, because they all sit further down the same line. Reading it as "the multifamily districts" is the common mistake, and it is not what the hierarchy says.
A combining district borrows its rank
§25-2-33(B) does something quietly useful: a combining district takes its position in the hierarchy from whatever base district it is combined with. An overlay is not itself more or less restrictive in the abstract.
Which is why the same overlay letters mean very different things in different places. NP is neighborhood plan and appears across much of the city; CO is a conditional overlay, whose contents were written in the ordinance that applied it, not in §25-2-32. The code lists them; it does not tell you what any particular one contains.
Common questions
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We do this research ourselves on every project we take on — zoning, floodplain, watershed, trees, whether it is a legal lot. Send us an address and we will run it and tell you what we find. It works the same whether you own a vacant lot, a house you are thinking of adding a unit to, or a house you are thinking of replacing. No charge and no strings, and if it is a bad lot we will say so.
Send us an addressWe are homebuilders, not the City of Austin. This page explains how we read the code in practice — it is not legal advice and it is not an official determination. Always confirm with Austin Development Services before you rely on it for a project. The authoritative text is the Austin Land Development Code; permitting questions go to Austin Development Services Department.