What does the CR zone mean in Montgomery County?

CR (Commercial/Residential) is Montgomery County's 2014-era mixed-use zone family. Its density and height are set by a numeric formula — e.g., CR 3.0 C 2.0 R 2.5 H 120 — specifying maximum floor-area ratio, commercial FAR, residential FAR, and height, rather than a fixed use table.

Does Montgomery County zoning apply inside Rockville or Gaithersburg?

No. Rockville and Gaithersburg are incorporated cities within Montgomery County that maintain their own independent zoning ordinances; the county's Zoning Ordinance and M-NCPPC administration apply only to unincorporated areas such as Silver Spring, Germantown, and much of Bethesda.

How do I find the zoning for an address in Montgomery County?

Use M-NCPPC's Montgomery County Planning GIS tools to look up a parcel's base zone and any applicable overlay or sector-plan zoning; confirm whether the address is inside an incorporated city with its own separate code first.

Montgomery County, Maryland · city zoning districts · 10 districts

Montgomery County, MD zoning map & districts

Montgomery County's zoning is set by the countywide Zoning Ordinance (comprehensively rewritten in 2014), administered by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) for unincorporated areas, including large unincorporated urban centers like Silver Spring and Germantown, as well as much of Bethesda. The 2014 rewrite introduced the Commercial/Residential (CR) zone family, which sets floor-area ratio, height, and residential-density caps through a formula (e.g., CR 3.0, C 2.0, R 2.5, H 120) rather than fixed use lists, alongside more conventional residential and agricultural districts.

The code Montgomery County Zoning Ordinance

Montgomery County zoning map

M-NCPPC's Montgomery County Planning Department maintains the Zoning Ordinance text and the countywide zoning map (MC Atlas / eDMS); parcel-level zoning is searchable through the county's online GIS tools.

There is no link to the official map here yet — confirm current district boundaries directly with the Montgomery County 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 Montgomery County

Critically, several incorporated cities inside Montgomery County — including Rockville and Gaithersburg — maintain their own separate zoning codes independent of M-NCPPC, so the county ordinance does not govern those jurisdictions even though they sit within the county's boundary. Developers should also account for the county's Agricultural Reserve, a large area in the northern/western county under strict preservation zoning, and its extensive Master Plan-driven sector and TOD overlays near Metro stations.

Montgomery County zoning districts by family

The 10 district codes below are the ones that decide most projects in Montgomery County, grouped by what they are for rather than by the order the ordinance prints them.

Key districts in the Montgomery County Zoning Ordinance — a curated reference, not the exhaustive list. Confirm against the current adopted code.
Code	District	What it is for
Residential 5 districts
RE-2	Residential Estate	Large-lot, low-density estate residential.
R-200	One-Family Residential	Detached housing, minimum 200-unit (thousand sq ft) lot standard.
R-90	One-Family Residential	Moderate-lot detached single-family district.
R-60	One-Family Residential	Smaller-lot detached single-family district, common in older suburbs.
R-20	Multiple-Family/Townhouse Residential	Townhouse and low-rise multifamily district.
Mixed-use 2 districts
CR	Commercial/Residential	Form-based mixed-use zone; density and height set by a numeric FAR/height/residential formula.
CRT	Commercial Residential Town	Town-center scale mixed-use district.
Commercial 1 district
EOF	Employment Office	Office and employment-center district.
Industrial 1 district
IL	Light Industrial	Light industrial and flex/warehouse uses.
Special purpose 1 district
AR	Agricultural Reserve	Large preservation zone in the northern/western county restricting non-agricultural development.

Montgomery County zoning — common questions

What does the CR zone mean in Montgomery County?: CR (Commercial/Residential) is Montgomery County's 2014-era mixed-use zone family. Its density and height are set by a numeric formula — e.g., CR 3.0 C 2.0 R 2.5 H 120 — specifying maximum floor-area ratio, commercial FAR, residential FAR, and height, rather than a fixed use table.
Does Montgomery County zoning apply inside Rockville or Gaithersburg?: No. Rockville and Gaithersburg are incorporated cities within Montgomery County that maintain their own independent zoning ordinances; the county's Zoning Ordinance and M-NCPPC administration apply only to unincorporated areas such as Silver Spring, Germantown, and much of Bethesda.
How do I find the zoning for an address in Montgomery County?: Use M-NCPPC's Montgomery County Planning GIS tools to look up a parcel's base zone and any applicable overlay or sector-plan zoning; confirm whether the address is inside an incorporated city with its own separate code first.

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

Keep reading

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

Other Maryland cities

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

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