The unique combination of these Zoning Districts prioritizes creating a variety of housing options for Boiseans in the right places, for all income levels, while adding character to our neighborhoods and limiting impacts to vulnerable residents. No matter what neighborhood they call home, residents should be able to enjoy a well-balanced transportation system that provides choices in how they get around and takes them to places they want to go. A safe and comfortable environment for walking and biking, neighborhoods with unique destinations and a walkable scale and bolstering our community's investment in transit all work together to create a predictable and sustainable development pattern. Special provisions for the industrial areas that bring rich commerce to the community, rich lands that have sensitive needs to protect their natural environments, and rich open spaces that make Boise more vibrant serve to create a safe, healthy city for everyone.
Residential Districts
Everyone in Boise deserves a safe place to live, one that they can afford, and one that is close to things they need to enjoy their lives. There is a wide variety of housing options and wide variety of home occupations to occur within our residential zoning districts allowing individuals an opportunity to work out of their homes on a small scale. Optimized dimensional standards support compact neighborhoods in some residential districts, while helping housing fit within the fabric of existing neighborhoods, ensuring that these developments are people-scaled and fit the character of surrounding homes.
Mixed Use Districts
Mixed-use zoning create places for individuals to access transit, goods and services near their homes at a comfortable scale, from neighborhood activity centers to the downtown core. Specific transit-oriented districts support needs for the four transit hubs, and ensure areas for transit stops are preserved. This district also supports our regional healthcare facilities in their role in the city's development pattern and ensures students and the community have what they need to provide high-quality educational experiences by individualizing a zoning district to the specific needs of the Boise State University Campus and its location near the downtown core.
Overlay Districts
Overlay districts protect the things Boiseans love most about specific areas, and minimizes risks to live and property by planning for hazards such as floods and wildfires in our surrounding sensitive lands.
Character, Neighborhood, and Design Review Overlay Districts can apply to specific neighborhoods with certain identifiable attributes embodied in architecture, urban design, geography, or history.
Sensitive Lands Overlay Districts are intended to protect unique environmental features and systems within the city from impacts of development, or to protect public health and safety by including additional restrictions on development in or near areas where necessary and permitted activities may create additional risks to the public.
Specific Plan Districts
Specific Plan Districts provide a means to create new zoning regulations for unique areas and developments where other conventional zoning mechanisms cannot achieve the desired results. Specific plans shall be implemented and be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, including the Future Land Use Map and policies. The purpose of a Specific Plan is to create unique zoning regulations for the buildout of a community over time. See more on Specific Plan Districts
Planned Unit Development
The purpose of the PUD zoning district is to accommodate new and imaginative concepts in urban design and land development to promote and improve the health, safety and general welfare of residents in ways consistent with Blueprint Boise. The primary use of this district is to promote innovative design that incorporates public amenities that provide significant benefits that would not be required otherwise.
Send a Message to Planning
Thank you for your interest in the Planning division. Please fill out the form below and a representative will be in touch with you. If you are inquiring about a specific project, please include the record number or project address.