What does TUMU zoning mean in Covington?

TUMU (Traditional Urban Mixed Use) is a character district in Covington's form-based Neighborhood Development Code that permits walkable, mixed-use blocks with ground-floor commercial and upper-floor residential by right, common in neighborhoods like MainStrasse and Roebling Point.

How do I find the zoning for an address in Covington?

Covington's Planning & Development department publishes the Neighborhood Development Code online through enCodePlus, and parcel-level character districts can be looked up on the city's GIS mapping application.

Why doesn't Covington use standard R-1, C-1, M-1 zoning codes?

Covington replaced conventional Euclidean zoning with a form-based Neighborhood Development Code, which regulates building form and street relationship through named character districts (like TUR or CMU) rather than the traditional letter-number use-district system.

Covington, Kentucky · city zoning districts · 16 districts

Covington, KY zoning map & districts

Covington, across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, replaced its conventional Euclidean zoning with a form-based Neighborhood Development Code (NDC), codified as Article 158 of the city's Code of Ordinances. Instead of separating uses into R-, C-, and M- districts, the NDC organizes the city into character districts — ranging from low-density Rural Residential through walkable Traditional Urban districts to a dedicated Central Riverfront Mixed-Use district — that regulate building form, frontage, and street relationship as the primary tool, with use restrictions layered in secondarily.

The code Covington Neighborhood Development Code

Covington zoning map

Covington's Department of Neighborhood Services / Planning & Development administers the Neighborhood Development Code, published through the enCodePlus code portal; parcel zoning is available via the city's GIS mapping application.

There is no link to the official map here yet — confirm current district boundaries directly with the Covington planning or zoning 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 Covington

This makes Covington's core neighborhoods (MainStrasse, Roebling Point, the riverfront) some of the most mixed-use-friendly in Northern Kentucky, since Traditional Urban and Downtown character districts permit ground-floor commercial with upper-floor residential by right. Developers should identify the applicable character district first, since it determines buildable envelope and street-facing requirements more directly than a traditional use table.

Covington zoning districts by family

The 16 district codes below are the ones that decide most projects in Covington, grouped by what they are for rather than by the order the ordinance prints them.

Key districts in the Covington Neighborhood Development Code — a curated reference, not the exhaustive list. Confirm against the current adopted code.
Code	District	What it is for
Residential 4 districts
RR	Rural Residential	Lowest-density, large-lot residential character district.
SR	Suburban Residential	Conventional suburban single-family neighborhoods.
SU	Semi-Urban Residential	Denser residential blocks transitioning toward the urban core.
TUR	Traditional Urban Residential	Walkable, closely-spaced residential blocks typical of Covington's historic neighborhoods.
Mixed-use 3 districts
SO	Suburban Office	Office development in a suburban building form.
CMU	Commercial Mixed Use	Mixed commercial and residential development.
TUMU	Traditional Urban Mixed Use	Walkable mixed-use blocks with ground-floor commercial, common in MainStrasse and Roebling Point.
Commercial 1 district
AUC	Auto-Urban Commercial	Auto-oriented commercial corridors.
Downtown / core 3 districts
CRM	Central Riverfront Mixed-Use District	High-intensity mixed-use district along Covington's Ohio River riverfront.
DTC	Downtown Core	Covington's highest-intensity downtown character district.
DTR	Downtown Riverfront	Downtown character district fronting the riverfront.
Industrial 3 districts
SI	Suburban Industrial	Lower-intensity industrial and flex uses.
LI	Limited Industrial	Light industrial uses.
GI	General Industrial	Heavier industrial uses.
Special purpose 2 districts
RP	Resource Protection	Environmentally sensitive land held for conservation.
REC	Recreation	Parks and recreational land.

Covington zoning — common questions

What does TUMU zoning mean in Covington?: TUMU (Traditional Urban Mixed Use) is a character district in Covington's form-based Neighborhood Development Code that permits walkable, mixed-use blocks with ground-floor commercial and upper-floor residential by right, common in neighborhoods like MainStrasse and Roebling Point.
How do I find the zoning for an address in Covington?: Covington's Planning & Development department publishes the Neighborhood Development Code online through enCodePlus, and parcel-level character districts can be looked up on the city's GIS mapping application.
Why doesn't Covington use standard R-1, C-1, M-1 zoning codes?: Covington replaced conventional Euclidean zoning with a form-based Neighborhood Development Code, which regulates building form and street relationship through named character districts (like TUR or CMU) rather than the traditional letter-number use-district system.

Working in Kentucky? 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 Kentucky opens, and sooner if we need a test parcel.

Keep reading

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

Other Kentucky cities

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

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