How does flood risk affect zoning in Norfolk?

Norfolk has built resilience standards directly into its land-use and design review process for low-lying districts, including elevation and stormwater requirements beyond baseline state flood rules, given the city's high exposure to coastal and tidal flooding. Confirm current requirements with the Department of City Planning for any waterfront or low-elevation parcel.

What is AICUZ and does it affect development near Naval Station Norfolk?

Air Installation Compatible Use Zone (AICUZ) guidelines restrict certain uses and densities under aircraft approach and departure corridors near Naval Station Norfolk. Any parcel near the base should be checked against current AICUZ overlay requirements in addition to its base zoning district.

How do I find the zoning for a property in Norfolk, Virginia?

The Department of City Planning maintains the Zoning Ordinance and an online GIS mapping tool showing parcel-level zoning; as an independent city, Norfolk has no county zoning layer to check separately.

Norfolk, Virginia · city zoning districts · 7 districts

Norfolk, VA zoning map & districts

Norfolk, Hampton Roads' urban core and home to the world's largest naval base, regulates land use under its Zoning Ordinance, administered by the Department of City Planning with the Planning Commission and City Council handling rezonings. Norfolk's severe exposure to coastal and tidal flooding has driven the city to build resilience-focused standards directly into its land-use and design review process, including elevation and stormwater requirements that go beyond baseline state flood rules in its lowest-lying districts. Land near Naval Station Norfolk also carries Air Installation Compatible Use Zone (AICUZ) considerations that affect what can be built under aircraft approach and departure corridors.

The code Norfolk Zoning Ordinance

Norfolk zoning map

The Norfolk Department of City Planning publishes the Zoning Ordinance and official zoning map, with parcel-level zoning searchable through the city's online GIS mapping tool.

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

As an independent city, Norfolk administers zoning entirely on its own under Virginia's Dillon's Rule framework, with no county layer above it. Downtown and near-downtown Norfolk have seen sustained mixed-use and multifamily rezoning activity tied to the city's light rail line and waterfront redevelopment.

Norfolk zoning districts by family

The 7 district codes below are the ones that decide most projects in Norfolk, grouped by what they are for rather than by the order the ordinance prints them.

Key districts in the Norfolk Zoning Ordinance — a curated reference, not the exhaustive list. Confirm against the current adopted code.
Code	District	What it is for
Residential 3 districts
SF-6	Single Family 6 - Suburban	Conventional single-family residential zoning.
SF-10	Single Family 10 - Suburban	Suburban single-family zoning with a larger minimum lot pattern.
MF-AC	Multi-Family - Apartment Complex	Multifamily apartment zoning.
Mixed-use 1 district
O	Office	Office use, including hospital- and university-adjacent land.
Commercial 1 district
C-C	Community Commercial	Commercial corridor zoning serving Norfolk's neighborhoods and near-downtown areas.
Industrial 2 districts
I-L	Industrial - Light	Light industrial and warehousing use.
I-DW	Industrial - Deep Water	Heavier industrial and port-adjacent use requiring deep-water channel access.

Norfolk zoning — common questions

How does flood risk affect zoning in Norfolk?: Norfolk has built resilience standards directly into its land-use and design review process for low-lying districts, including elevation and stormwater requirements beyond baseline state flood rules, given the city's high exposure to coastal and tidal flooding. Confirm current requirements with the Department of City Planning for any waterfront or low-elevation parcel.
What is AICUZ and does it affect development near Naval Station Norfolk?: Air Installation Compatible Use Zone (AICUZ) guidelines restrict certain uses and densities under aircraft approach and departure corridors near Naval Station Norfolk. Any parcel near the base should be checked against current AICUZ overlay requirements in addition to its base zoning district.
How do I find the zoning for a property in Norfolk, Virginia?: The Department of City Planning maintains the Zoning Ordinance and an online GIS mapping tool showing parcel-level zoning; as an independent city, Norfolk has no county zoning layer to check separately.

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

Keep reading

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

Other Virginia cities

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

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