What does R3 zoning mean in Los Angeles?

R3 is LA's Multiple Dwelling zone allowing roughly one unit per 800 square feet of lot area, so density scales with lot size. It's a common mid-density multifamily zone found along secondary streets citywide, often stacked with a Height District and any applicable overlay.

How do I find the zoning for an address in Los Angeles?

Use ZIMAS, LA City Planning's online parcel viewer, which returns the base zone, height district, community plan, and any overlays (HPOZ, TOC tier, specific plan) for a given address. The result also flags whether the parcel has already converted to the new Chapter 1A code.

What is the LA TOC program and how does it affect zoning?

Transit Oriented Communities is a density-bonus overlay, not a base zone, that grants added density, reduced parking, and other incentives to residential projects near qualifying transit stops in exchange for affordable units. It layers on top of whatever base zone (R3, R4, C2, etc.) already applies to the parcel.

Los Angeles, California · city zoning districts · 13 districts

Los Angeles, CA zoning map & districts

Los Angeles zoning is administered by the LA City Planning Department under Chapter 1 of the Municipal Code (LAMC), a 1946-vintage Euclidean code that has been amended thousands of times. The city is in the middle of a district-by-district transition to a rewritten Chapter 1A code, so a parcel's applicable rules depend on whether its area has been recodified yet. Community Plans, Specific Plans, and Historic Preservation Overlay Zones (HPOZs) layer additional standards on top of base zoning across most of the city.

The code Los Angeles Municipal Code, Chapter 1

Los Angeles zoning map

The interactive map needs JavaScript. See the official ZIMAS (Zone Information and Map Access System) - LA City Planning instead.

Residential 819
Commercial 494
Special purpose 358
Industrial 350
Mixed-use 131

Source: ZIMAS (Zone Information and Map Access System) - LA City Planning, retrieved 2026-08-30. Basemap: © OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Find a district by address

District lookup only. No bulk standards and no ordinance citations are held for this city yet. Not a zoning verification.

Source: the official ZIMAS (Zone Information and Map Access System) - LA City Planning , retrieved 2026-08-30 — the authoritative source for current boundaries.

LA City Planning's ZIMAS (Zone Information and Map Access System) is the standard parcel-level lookup for zoning, height district, and overlay data; code text and pending Chapter 1A conversions are published by the LA City Planning Department.

A published summary is never the authority. The adopted ordinance and the city's official zoning map govern, and both change — verify the district and every standard on your parcel before you rely on it.

How zoning works in Los Angeles

The Transit Oriented Communities (TOC) incentive program, adopted under Measure JJJ, grants density and parking-reduction bonuses near major transit stops and is one of the most commonly used entitlement tools citywide. State ADU law and SB 9 lot splits apply on top of the base code in single-family zones, and Base zones are frequently modified by Height Districts (e.g., 1, 1L, 1VL) and Q/D limiting conditions attached during prior rezonings.

Los Angeles zoning districts by family

The 13 district codes below are the ones that decide most projects in Los Angeles, grouped by what they are for rather than by the order the ordinance prints them.

Key districts in the Los Angeles Municipal Code, Chapter 1 — a curated reference, not the exhaustive list. Confirm against the current adopted code.
Code	District	What it is for
Residential 5 districts
R1	One-Family Zone	Standard single-family detached residential.
RD1.5	RD1.5 — Restricted Density Multiple Dwelling (mapped only as RD1.5-1, RD1.5-2, plus overlay suffixes)	DB: 2,504 features whose zone_class begins "RD1.5-" (e.g. RD1.5-1, (Q)RD1.5-1VL); no bare "RD1.5". Name text "Restricted Density Multiple Dwelling" already matched CP-7150 and is kept, retitled with the family framing. LA classifies via CATEGORY field, unaffected by this retitle.
R3	Multiple Dwelling Zone	Multifamily, one unit per ~800 sq ft of lot area.
R4	Multiple Dwelling Zone	Higher-density multifamily, one unit per ~400 sq ft of lot area.
R5	R5 — Multiple Dwelling Zone (mapped only as R5-1, R5-2, plus D suffix)	DB: 30 features begin "R5-"; no bare "R5" (distinct base suffixes R5-1, R5-1D, R5-2). Kept as a prefix-family entry, retitled; LA classifies via CATEGORY field (classify_via_field), unaffected by this retitle.
Commercial 3 districts
C1	Limited Commercial Zone	Neighborhood-serving retail, limited intensity.
C2	Commercial Zone	General commercial corridor zone, broad retail/office uses.
C4	C4 — Commercial Zone (mapped only as C4-1, C4-2, C4-4, plus overlay suffixes)	DB: 778 features begin "C4-" (los-angeles-ca); no bare "C4" (distinct base suffixes C4-1, C4-2, C4-4, confirmed via direct DB query). Kept as a prefix-family entry, retitled. LA's build classifies via the live layer's own CATEGORY field (priority-cities.json classify_via_field=CATEGORY), not per-suffix code overrides, so this retitle has no coverage-gate effect -- confirmed, not duplicated.
Industrial 3 districts
CM	Commercial Manufacturing Zone	Hybrid zone permitting light industrial and commercial uses together.
M1	M1 — Limited Industrial Zone (mapped only as M1-1, M1-2, plus overlay suffixes)	DB: 529 features begin "M1-"; no bare "M1" (distinct base suffixes M1-1, M1-2). Kept as a prefix-family entry, retitled; LA classifies via CATEGORY field (classify_via_field), unaffected by this retitle.
M2	Light Industrial Zone	General manufacturing, mid-intensity industrial uses.
Special purpose 2 districts
OS	Open Space Zone	Parks and permanently preserved open land.
PF	Public Facilities Zone	Government, school, and other public-use sites.

Los Angeles zoning — common questions

What does R3 zoning mean in Los Angeles?: R3 is LA's Multiple Dwelling zone allowing roughly one unit per 800 square feet of lot area, so density scales with lot size. It's a common mid-density multifamily zone found along secondary streets citywide, often stacked with a Height District and any applicable overlay.
How do I find the zoning for an address in Los Angeles?: Use ZIMAS, LA City Planning's online parcel viewer, which returns the base zone, height district, community plan, and any overlays (HPOZ, TOC tier, specific plan) for a given address. The result also flags whether the parcel has already converted to the new Chapter 1A code.
What is the LA TOC program and how does it affect zoning?: Transit Oriented Communities is a density-bonus overlay, not a base zone, that grants added density, reduced parking, and other incentives to residential projects near qualifying transit stops in exchange for affordable units. It layers on top of whatever base zone (R3, R4, C2, etc.) already applies to the parcel.

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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 California opens, and sooner if we need a test parcel.

Keep reading

← California zoning — who holds the zoning power in California, under which enabling statute, and the reforms that override local rules.

Other California cities

The zoning reference → — every state, plus city-level district guides like this one.

Los Angeles zoning summaries on this page are provided for information, not legal advice. Confirm every project against the current adopted code for the jurisdiction.