City zoning maps
Detroit Zoning Map: How to Look Up Zoning in Detroit, Michigan
Where Detroit's official zoning maps and ordinance live, what the R1 to R6, B1 to B6, M1 to M5, PD, and SD districts mean, and how special land use approvals work.
Detroit's zoning ordinance was rewritten and re-adopted in 2019 as Chapter 50 of the city code, and the city publishes its map three ways: as an official map index by area, as an open-data GIS layer, and through an interactive zoning guide. With the largest supply of vacant urban land in any major American city, Detroit is a market where the district matters more than the current use, because the current use is often nothing.
Where the official map and code live
- Zoning Map Index on detroitmi.gov: the official zoning maps by area, maintained by the City Planning Commission.
- Zoning layer on the Detroit Open Data Portal (data.detroitmi.gov): the same districts as a GIS layer you can search and download.
- Zoning Guide Detroit (zoning.det.city): an interactive map and plain-language guide to each district, built with the city.
- Chapter 50, Zoning, in the Detroit Code of Ordinances on Municode, with Article VII describing the districts and Article XII the use regulations.
- Zoning questions and approvals: the Buildings, Safety Engineering and Environmental Department (BSEED) zoning division handles zoning verification, permits, and special land use hearings.
How Detroit's districts are organized
Residential
- R1: single-family residential.
- R2: two-family residential.
- R3: low-density residential, which brings in townhouses and small multifamily buildings.
- R4: thoroughfare residential, multifamily along major streets.
- R5: medium-density residential.
- R6: high-density residential.
Business
- B1: restricted business, small-scale neighborhood uses.
- B2: local business and residential, mixing neighborhood retail with housing.
- B3: shopping district.
- B4: general business, the broad commercial district that covers most corridors.
- B5: major business, the most intensive business district.
- B6: general services, which allows service and light industrial-type uses that other business districts exclude.
Industrial
- M1: limited industrial.
- M2: restricted industrial.
- M3: general industrial.
- M4: intensive industrial.
- M5: special industrial.
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Special and planned
- PD: planned development, with rules set in an approved plan; see our PUD and PD explainer.
- SD1 through SD5: special development districts, including small-scale mixed residential (SD1), mixed-use (SD2), riverfront (SD4), and casino (SD5) districts.
- P1 (open parking), PR (parks and recreation), PC and PCA (public center and public center adjacent, the downtown core), TM (transitional industrial), and W1 (waterfront industrial).
Overlay areas such as the Traditional Main Street Overlay add design and use rules along designated commercial streets.
Permitted versus special land use
Detroit's use tables distinguish uses permitted "by right" from those allowed only as a special land use, which requires a public hearing before BSEED's hearing officer with findings on compatibility, traffic, and neighborhood impact. Many of the uses developers care about in business and industrial districts, including outdoor storage, vehicle-related uses, and some residential types in business districts, are special land uses in at least one of the districts that allow them. Our guide on checking conditional use describes what a hearing looks for.
What makes Detroit different
- Vacant land at scale. A large share of residential parcels are vacant lots, many owned by the Detroit Land Bank Authority, which sells side lots and development parcels through its own programs. The zoning district tells you what a vacant lot can become; the land bank tells you whether you can buy it.
- Industrial land near the core. M districts run along rail corridors and the river close to downtown, which is why industrial outdoor storage and small-bay industrial deals are active here.
- Neighborhood-scale business districts. B2 and B3 corridors allow residential over retail, and the SD districts were created to enable mixed-use projects that the older business districts could not.
How to check a specific parcel
- Search the address on the Zoning Guide Detroit map or the open-data zoning layer and note the district.
- Confirm on the official Zoning Map Index sheet for that area.
- Open Chapter 50 on Municode, read the district description in Article VII and the use table in Article XII, and note whether your use is by right or a special land use.
- Check for overlay areas and, for a PD, the approved plan.
- For a purchase, request a zoning verification from BSEED.
In Plotzy, Detroit parcels carry the zoning category and the city's district code, so a search for "M1 and M2 parcels over two acres within a mile of the interstate" is one query, with the owner of record on each result. Zoning AI can answer district questions from Chapter 50 with the section cited.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the official Detroit zoning map?
The City of Detroit publishes its official zoning maps as a Zoning Map Index on detroitmi.gov and as a GIS layer on the Detroit Open Data Portal. The Zoning Guide Detroit site offers an interactive version with district descriptions.
What is B4 zoning in Detroit?
B4 is the General Business District, the broad commercial district along most of Detroit's commercial corridors, allowing retail, services, offices, and some residential uses, with certain uses requiring special land use approval.
What is M1 zoning in Detroit?
M1 is the Limited Industrial District, intended for light industrial, warehousing, and related uses with performance standards that make it compatible with nearby non-industrial areas. Heavier uses fall in M2 through M5.
What is a special land use in Detroit?
A use that the ordinance allows in a district only after a public hearing and findings by BSEED's hearing officer. It is Detroit's version of a conditional-use permit.
How do I get a zoning verification letter in Detroit?
Request it from the BSEED zoning division, which issues zoning verifications for a fee based on the parcel's district and the proposed use.
Related reading
- How to Find Out What a Property Is Zoned For (Any US Address)
A step-by-step method for looking up a parcel's zoning, reading the designation, telling permitted from conditional uses, catching overlays and planned developments, and confirming it with the planning department.
- What Is M-1 Zoning? Light Industrial and Manufacturing Districts Explained
What M-1 zoning usually allows, the performance standards and outdoor storage limits that come with it, how Los Angeles, New York, and Detroit define it, and what developers build on M-1 land.
- Industrial Outdoor Storage (IOS) Site Selection: Zoning and How to Find Yards
Where truck, trailer, container, and equipment yards are permitted, the screening, paving, and stormwater rules that apply, and a parcel search recipe for IOS and small-bay industrial sites.