Does my city or county in Arkansas have zoning authority?

Arkansas is a Dillon's Rule state, so cities must derive zoning power from the state's municipal planning chapter (Ark. Code Ann. §§ 14-56-401 to 14-56-426), and most incorporated cities have adopted zoning ordinances under it. Counties have zoning authority only where they've adopted a county planning board under a separate enabling chapter, and many rural Arkansas counties have never done so, leaving unincorporated land outside any city's extraterritorial jurisdiction effectively unzoned.

How do I look up zoning for a parcel in Arkansas?

Start with the city or county planning department where the parcel sits — Arkansas has no single statewide zoning-lookup portal, though the Arkansas GIS Office aggregates some parcel-level data. For land outside any city, confirm first whether the county has adopted a county planning board and zoning at all.

What is extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) in Arkansas?

Arkansas cities can extend planning and subdivision review authority beyond their limits under the state's municipal planning chapter, historically scaled from roughly one to three miles depending on city population. Because ETJ boundaries are set locally and can change by ordinance, developers should confirm current ETJ reach with both the city and county before assuming which code governs a given parcel.

Arkansas · state zoning reference · Waitlist open

Arkansas zoning: how it works and what you can build

Arkansas is a Dillon's-rule state where municipalities and counties have only the zoning powers the legislature has expressly delegated — cities zone under a statewide municipal-planning chapter with extraterritorial reach beyond city limits, while many counties have never adopted zoning at all, leaving unincorporated land unregulated across large parts of the state.

How zoning works in Arkansas

Arkansas municipalities and counties have only the zoning powers the legislature has expressly delegated to them; there is no general home-rule grant for land use. Cities zone under the municipal planning chapter of Title 14, adopting planning commissions and zoning ordinances by local ordinance, while counties zone unincorporated land under a parallel county-planning-board chapter. Larger cities also hold extraterritorial planning jurisdiction — historically one to three miles beyond city limits depending on population — giving them a say over land use before annexation.

Arkansas has not enacted a statewide ADU mandate or missing-middle housing law comparable to reforms recently adopted in states like Arizona or California; accessory dwelling unit and infill policy in Arkansas is set city by city. Fayetteville has been among the more active Arkansas cities on this front, incorporating ADU-friendly and form-based provisions into its Unified Development Code, while most other Arkansas municipalities regulate ADUs, where they allow them at all, through conventional single-family district restrictions.

For developers, Arkansas's zoning landscape remains a traditional, locally administered Euclidean system layered under Dillon's-rule enabling statutes rather than any statewide density mandate. County land outside a municipality's extraterritorial jurisdiction can still be unzoned in rural Arkansas, so jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction confirmation of zoning authority and local ADU policy is essential before assuming any entitlement.

Who holds the zoning power

Land-use authority in Arkansas is delegated by statute, not assumed — these are the acts a zoning ordinance in Arkansas has to trace back to.

Municipal Planning Enabling Act Ark. Code Ann. §§ 14-56-401 to 14-56-426: Authorizes municipal planning commissions and the adoption of zoning ordinances within city limits and extraterritorial planning jurisdiction.
County Planning Board Act Ark. Code Ann. §§ 14-17-201 to 14-17-212: Enables county planning boards and boards of zoning adjustment for unincorporated land.

Major cities and their codes

The enabling act sets the ceiling; the municipal code is what a project is actually reviewed against. The 5 largest Arkansas jurisdictions and the codes they administer:

Arkansas — municipal zoning codes
City	Zoning code
Little Rock	Little Rock Zoning Ordinance State capital and largest city; traditional R-1 through R-5 and MF-6 through MF-24 district system.
Fayetteville	Fayetteville Unified Development Code Northwest Arkansas university city, among the state's most active on infill and form-based zoning experiments.
Fort Smith	Fort Smith Unified Development Ordinance Western Arkansas hub; consolidated zoning and subdivision standards into a single UDO.
Springdale	City of Springdale Zoning Code Fast-growing Northwest Arkansas city anchored by major food-industry employers.
Jonesboro	City of Jonesboro Zoning Ordinance Northeast Arkansas regional hub and home to Arkansas State University.

Parcel & GIS data

Arkansas parcel and GIS data are aggregated through the statewide Arkansas GIS Office, but zoning-district detail still resides with each city or county planning department individually — there is no single statewide zoning-lookup map.

Parcel-level feasibility in Arkansas waits on that data being ingested and the ordinances encoded — the waitlist below is what sets the order.

Zoning by city

The statute sets who may zone; the city's own code sets what you can build. One guide per Arkansas city below, explaining the district codes that appear on its zoning map — 44 district codes across Arkansas so far.

Arkansas zoning — common questions

Does my city or county in Arkansas have zoning authority?: Arkansas is a Dillon's Rule state, so cities must derive zoning power from the state's municipal planning chapter (Ark. Code Ann. §§ 14-56-401 to 14-56-426), and most incorporated cities have adopted zoning ordinances under it. Counties have zoning authority only where they've adopted a county planning board under a separate enabling chapter, and many rural Arkansas counties have never done so, leaving unincorporated land outside any city's extraterritorial jurisdiction effectively unzoned.
Can I build an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) in Arkansas?: Arkansas has no statewide ADU mandate, so whether an ADU is allowed depends entirely on the local zoning ordinance. Fayetteville has built ADU-friendly and form-based provisions into its Unified Development Code, while many other Arkansas cities still regulate or restrict ADUs under conventional single-family zoning, so check the specific municipal code before assuming a lot is eligible.
How do I look up zoning for a parcel in Arkansas?: Start with the city or county planning department where the parcel sits — Arkansas has no single statewide zoning-lookup portal, though the Arkansas GIS Office aggregates some parcel-level data. For land outside any city, confirm first whether the county has adopted a county planning board and zoning at all.
What is extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) in Arkansas?: Arkansas cities can extend planning and subdivision review authority beyond their limits under the state's municipal planning chapter, historically scaled from roughly one to three miles depending on city population. Because ETJ boundaries are set locally and can change by ordinance, developers should confirm current ETJ reach with both the city and county before assuming which code governs a given parcel.

Working in Arkansas? Get on the list.

The parcel layer lands in the order demand does. Illinois went first because that's where the deals were; the next state is decided by who tells us what they're trying to underwrite. Tell us where you're building and what you wanted to run — you'll hear from us when Arkansas opens, and sooner if we need a test parcel.

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Want to see the finished shape of this work? Illinois is live at parcel level — Illinois zoning and the 53-district Chicago reference.

Arkansas zoning summaries on this page are provided for information, not legal advice. Confirm every project against the current adopted code for the jurisdiction and the statute as amended.