A smaller, secondary home on the same lot as a main residence.

ZOP Translation: Backyard cottage, garage apartment, or that tiny house your in-laws now live in.

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A secondary use on a property that supports the main use.

ZOP Translation: The sidekick. Think garage, garden shed, or pool cabana.

A required line where a building must be placed, often near the sidewalk.

ZOP Translation: Where we want your building’s face to show up.

Estimates the maximum potential development capacity of an area.

ZOP Translation: A planner’s version of “How much can we squeeze in before someone panics?”

A specific area on a lot where a building’s front must be placed.

ZOP Translation: Don’t just show up — show up exactly here.

A land use that’s allowed only if extra conditions are met.

ZOP Translation: You can have it, but only if you behave.

A deal between a developer and a community to provide public benefits in exchange for project support.

ZOP Translation: You build your thing, but you give us a park, a sidewalk, and maybe a coffee shop too.

Design that fits the surrounding area’s look, feel, and scale.

ZOP Translation: Don’t plop a Vegas-style tower next to a row of bungalows.

The opposite of upzoning — reducing what can be built.

ZOP Translation: Telling a developer “you’re dreaming too big.”

An incentive that lets developers build more units if they include something beneficial, like affordable housing.

ZOP Translation: Build taller, but only if you’re nice about it.

Traditional zoning that separates land uses into single-use zones.

ZOP Translation: The reason why your home, job, school, and coffee shop are nowhere near each other.

The legal approvals required to develop a property.

ZOP Translation: Bureaucratic bingo you need to win before you can build.

is a land use practice where zoning laws are used—intentionally or not—to limit who can live in certain areas, often by restricting housing types or densities.

ZOP Translation: Legal NIMBYism dressed up in nice formatting — looks like a zoning code, works like a velvet rope.

A legal right for someone to use part of your property (e.g., for utilities or access).

ZOP Translation: That random patch of grass the city insists it owns.

The full gauntlet of approvals a developer must go through to get permission to build.

ZOP Translation: Where ideas go to get permitted... or slowly wear down everyone’s patience.

The ratio of a building's total floor area to the size of its lot.

ZOP Translation: How chunky your building is allowed to be.

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Zoning that focuses on how buildings look and interact with the street, not just what they’re used for.

ZOP Translation: Less “What are you?” and more “How do you look standing next to a sidewalk?”

A zoning overlay that uses design rules (form-based code) layered on top of traditional zoning.

ZOP Translation: It's like telling your building to dress a little sharper.

The footprint or layout of a building’s floor, usually used in tall buildings.

ZOP Translation: The planner’s term for “how big your building’s shoes are.”

A city’s long-range blueprint for growth and development.

ZOP Translation: The big vision doc that says, “Here’s where we’re going,” even if everyone skips to the maps.

Different uses (like housing and retail) next to each other, but in separate buildings.

ZOP Translation: Walk next door to the coffee shop, don’t live above it.

A policy that requires or incentivizes affordable housing in new developments.

ZOP Translation: The planning version of “you can sit with us.”

A fee charged to developers to pay for public infrastructure improvements.

ZOP Translation: Your building’s way of chipping in for roads, parks, and pipes.

A color-coded map showing what can be built where, based on the comp plan.

ZOP Translation: The planner’s version of a mood board — but legal.

When land is purchased and held for future development or resale.

ZOP Translation: Planning’s version of sitting on a good idea until the timing’s right (or the market explodes).

A plan that outlines how people move through a city, including transit, biking, walking, and driving.

ZOP Translation: Not just about traffic — it's your city’s travel playlist.

Small-scale multi-unit housing types like duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes that fit in walkable neighborhoods.

ZOP Translation: The Goldilocks zone between a mansion and a mega-apartment — just right.

A building or use that was legal when built, but no longer fits the current zoning.

ZOP Translation: Grandfathered in — like that weird store in the middle of the neighborhood.

A person or mindset that opposes development near them, even if they support it in theory.

ZOP Translation: “Affordable housing is great — just not next to my yoga studio.”

A zoning layer with special rules that apply on top of base zoning.

ZOP Translation: Like frosting on a zoning cake — sometimes sweet, sometimes sticky.

A zoning district laid over another, adding extra rules.

ZOP Translation: Like putting a filter on your base zoning.

A flexible zoning tool that allows a mix of uses in one development.

ZOP Translation: Zoning jazz — a little bit of everything, usually on a big site.

Land reserved for public use like streets, sidewalks, utilities.

ZOP Translation: Where the city owns the land even though it feels like your yard.

The required distance between a structure and the property line.

ZOP Translation: The invisible “no build zone” around the edge of your lot.

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When one property is zoned differently than surrounding properties, often for private benefit.

ZOP Translation: The zoning version of playing favorites.

The process of dividing land into lots.

ZOP Translation: Turning one big slice of land into several tiny real estate snacks.

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Making the street feel alive and engaging, often with storefronts, seating, and pedestrians.

ZOP Translation: Basically, don’t let your building act like a wall.

An analysis showing how a building’s height and shape will cast shadows on surrounding areas.

ZOP Translation: Will your fancy new building block sunlight from the dog park? Let’s find out.

A planning concept that divides places into zones from rural to urban.

ZOP Translation: The scale from “cows and trees” to “skyscrapers and Ubers.”

A program that lets developers buy unused development rights from other properties.

ZOP Translation: Trading airspace like Pokémon cards.

Compact, walkable development centered around transit stops.

ZOP Translation: Build near the bus stop like you mean it.

Changing zoning to allow more density or intensity of use.

ZOP Translation: When a property goes from “small stuff only” to “build big, baby.”

Special permission to break the zoning rules.

ZOP Translation: A legal way of saying “Can I pretty please not follow this one rule?”

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Different uses stacked within one building (like apartments over shops).

ZOP Translation: Classic "sleep upstairs, work downstairs" zoning goodness.

A protected sightline to a landmark, natural feature, or scenic view.

ZOP Translation: Don’t block the good stuff.