Santa Fe, New Mexico · city zoning districts · 13 districts
Santa Fe, NM zoning map & districts
Santa Fe's zoning is set by the Land Development Code (Chapter 14 of the Santa Fe City Code), administered by the city's Land Use Department. The residential district series is numbered by target density rather than lot size — R-1, R-5, R-8, R-13, and R-19 designate the approximate maximum dwelling units per acre — which developers coming from lot-minimum-based codes should not assume maps directly onto a familiar unit count without checking the density formula.
The code Santa Fe Land Development Code
Santa Fe zoning map
Parcel zoning is confirmed through the City of Santa Fe's GIS zoning map maintained by the Land Use Department; the Land Development Code text is published through the city's municipal code portal.
There is no link to the official map here yet — confirm current district boundaries directly with the Santa Fe 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 Santa Fe
Downtown and the historic core carry Historic District overlays (including the Downtown & Eastside Historic District) that impose adobe/Pueblo-style mass, height, material, and color standards reviewed by the Historic Districts Review Board — in practice these overlay standards, plus citywide height limits that are notably restrictive relative to what base-district density would otherwise support, control the buildable envelope in the core more than the underlying zoning designation does. Any infill project inside a historic district needs a Certificate of Appropriateness in addition to a standard building permit.
Santa Fe zoning districts by family
The 13 district codes below are the ones that decide most projects in Santa Fe, grouped by what they are for rather than by the order the ordinance prints them.
| Code | District | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Residential 7 districts | ||
| R1 | Residential District Single Family (1 du/ac) | Confirmed via city zoning GIS; official code has no hyphen. |
| R5 | Residential District Single Family (5-6 du/ac) | Confirmed via city zoning GIS; official code has no hyphen. |
| R8 | Residential District Single Family (7-8 du/ac) | Confirmed via city zoning GIS; the prior list's R-13/R-19 codes do not exist in current GIS data. |
| R10 | Multiple-Family Residential District (10 du/ac) | Confirmed via city zoning GIS; replaces the non-existent 'R-13' code in the prior list. |
| R12 | Multiple-Family Residential District (12 du/ac) | Confirmed via city zoning GIS; was missing from prior list. |
| R21 | Multiple-Family Residential District (21 du/ac) | Confirmed via city zoning GIS; replaces the non-existent 'R-19' code in the prior list. |
| R29 | Multiple-Family Residential District (29 du/ac) | Confirmed via city zoning GIS; highest-density residential tier, was missing from prior list. |
| Mixed-use 1 district | ||
| MU | Mixed Use District | Confirmed via city zoning GIS; was entirely absent from the prior list, which had no mixed-use district. |
| Commercial 3 districts | ||
| C1 | Office and Related Commercial District | Official GIS name differs from prior 'Neighborhood Commercial' label; code has no hyphen. |
| C2 | General Commercial District | Confirmed via city zoning GIS; official code has no hyphen. |
| C4 | Limited Office and Retail District | Confirmed via city zoning GIS; no C3 code exists in current data, contrary to the prior list. |
| Downtown / core 1 district | ||
| BCD | Business Capital District | Santa Fe's actual downtown core code; replaces the non-existent 'C-3 Central Business/Downtown' code in the prior list, includes many named subdistricts (Plaza, Railyard, etc.). |
| Industrial 1 district | ||
| I1 | Light Industrial District | Confirmed via city zoning GIS; was entirely absent from the prior list, which had no industrial district. |
Santa Fe zoning — common questions
- What does R-8 zoning mean in Santa Fe?
- R-8 is a residential density district under the Land Development Code permitting roughly eight dwelling units per acre, moderate density suited to small-lot single-family homes and some attached housing. Santa Fe's residential districts are numbered by target density rather than by minimum lot size.
- How do I find the zoning for an address in Santa Fe?
- Use the City of Santa Fe's GIS zoning map through the Land Use Department, which shows the base density district and flags whether the parcel falls inside a Historic District overlay that adds design review requirements.
- Does a historic district override the base zoning in Santa Fe?
- In practice, yes for design outcomes. Historic District overlays impose adobe/Pueblo-style mass, height, and material standards reviewed by the Historic Districts Review Board, and citywide height limits in the core are often more restrictive than what the base density district would otherwise allow.
Keep reading
← New Mexico zoning — who holds the zoning power in New Mexico, under which enabling statute, and the reforms that override local rules.
Other New Mexico cities
- Albuquerque 15 districts
- Farmington 18 districts
- Las Cruces 15 districts
- Rio Rancho 17 districts
- Roswell 15 districts
The zoning reference → — every state, plus city-level district guides like this one.
Santa Fe zoning summaries on this page are provided for information, not legal advice. Confirm every project against the current adopted code for the jurisdiction.