The primary types of land use and zoning

Florida residents will want to check to see how a particular property is zoned before purchasing it. This is important because you’ll want to make sure that you can use the property for its intended purposes.

Imagine you have a factory, and you buy a new property to house the factory. However, you later discover that the property is zoned for industrial use, and you can’t use the property as you intended. If you already finalized the transaction and you now own the property, you could suffer huge financial losses as a result.

9 common zoning categories

There are nine ways that municipalities zone property. Here they are:

• Residential zoning: These zones are usually intended for single family homes and other categories of residential property that may allow for apartments, homes, trailer parks, duplexes, condos and co-ops. Residential zones will also place limitations on the kinds of animals that can be in the homes and what kind of in-home businesses may be carried out.
• Commercial zoning: These zones are usually intended for businesses like shops, restaurants, clubs, bars, hotels and some kinds of apartment complexes.
• Industrial zoning: These zones usually relate to factories, plants, processing facilities and other operations that might somehow impact the environment of the area.
• Agricultural zoning: These zones are usually intended for livestock, farming and other such operations.
• Rural zoning: These zones are usually intended for residences, ranches or farms that have cattle and horses.
• Combination zoning: These zones may allow for a combination of activities.
• Historic zoning: In these zones, historic preservation laws will apply, so that the owners of property must adhere to certain rules and regulations in order to preserve historical sites.
• Aesthetic zoning: These zones may require the following of certain rules, regulations and standards in terms of the appearances of properties. The purpose is intended to ensure the beauty and upkeep of the zone.

Include a zoning review in all of your real estate purchasing decisions

The above list is not exhaustive. Every community will have its own set of zoning rules and regulations. By carefully reviewing your local real estate zoning laws and the zoning that applies to your next real estate purchase, you can make wise real estate purchases and avoid the potential for future legal problems.