Not Referenced or Unspecified Core Fields
Very few municipalities use every core field (minimum lot size, dwelling units allowed per acre, maximum height, maximum floor-area ratio, and multifamily housing) in their zoning. For this reason, in addition to the core fields named above, MAPC added to the tabular data a set of fields for dimensional regulations that could be used to estimate certain core fields in cases where these values were not specified for a district. These additional support fields are:
Maximum Percent Lot Coverage (
PCTLOTCOV)Minimum Land Area per Dwelling Unit (
LApDU)Maximum Building Floors (
MAXFLRS)Maximum Dwelling Units (
MAXDU)
MAPC recorded data for these four fields whenever a value was specified by the municipality, regardless of whether that value was required to estimate a core field. If a support field was particularly important in the estimation of a core field, MAPC also estimated the value. MAPC used a set estimation formula or set hierarchy of estimation formulas for these estimates. There were a few instances where it was not possible to estimate a core field using support fields or the other core fields; in these cases, MAPC estimated the value using other regulations for that district and manually entered this figure into the database.
Example: Code with Core Fields Referenced
This municipality has fields for minimum lot size (Lot Area), dwelling units per acre, maximum building height, and maximum floor-area ratio. Allowance of multifamily housing is described through a combination of uses in the Districts field and a description of allowable uses elsewhere in the code.
Example: Code with Few Core Fields but Many Support Fields
This municipality specifies minimum lot size (Minimum Lot Area), and maximum floor-area-ratio, but does not specify dwelling units per acre for any of the zones where residential uses are permitted. (Maximum building height and residential uses are specified in the text of the code.)
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