New Zoning Districts
Mitchell Bishop,
Director
555 Michigan Avenue, Suite 203
La Porte, IN 46350
Phone: 219-326-6808 Ext. 2253
Fax: 219-324-6349
MISSION STATMENT
With the county of La Porte and both the cities of La Porte and Michigan City having individual zoning ordinances, there is currently a great deal of overlap and inconsistency in zoning districts. Based upon the goal of creating a unified set of zoning districts, the current 34 districts of the three jurisdictions are being combined into 22 for a more consistent and streamlined regulation of land uses across the county.
The new districts and corresponding old districts from each municipality are summarized in the following table. The left column lists the zoning districts being proposed in the new zoning ordinance. The center columns list the zoning districts in each of the existing zoning ordinances that will be converted to the new zoning districts. Note that there are adjustments being made with the new districts, based upon existing land uses and the recommendations of the County Comprehensive Land Development Plan.
Swipe left to view complete table.
| New Adopted Zoning Districts | Corresponding Current Zoning Districts | District Intent | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Porte County | City of La Porte | Michigan City | ||
| Agriculture | ||||
| A1-Agriculture | A | – | – | Exclusive agricultural district in prime farmland areas with larger scale agribusinesses. |
| A2-Agriculture | A | – | – | Agricultural district with a limited number of rural residential allowed. |
| Single Family Residential | ||||
| R1A-Single Family Residential | R1 | – | – | Low density rural residential in areas of low density or limited public services. Agriculture may still be predominant land use. Rural conservation encouraged through cluster development. |
| R1B-Single Family Residential | R2 & R3 | A & R1 | A & RE | Single family residential in urban areas of county, rural villages and in the lower density areas of the cities. |
| R1C-Single Family Residential | – | R2 | R1 | Single family residential on moderate-sized urban lots. Intended for cities and small unincorporated hamlets in County. |
| R1D-Single Family Residential | – | R3 | R2 | Urban single family residential on small, 50-foot lots and two family residential. Intended for cities only. |
| R1E-Waterfront Residential | – | – | R2 | Residential district that applies to lakefront areas with small lot residential. |
| Townhouse Residential | ||||
| R2A-Townhouse | – | – | R3 | Moderate density townhouse district intended for transitional areas of cities as well as condominium development in areas of county with utility services. |
| R2B-Townhouse | – | – | R4 | High density townhouse district intended for urban redevelopment areas of cities. |
| Multiple Family Residential | ||||
| R3A-Low-Rise Multiple Family Residential | – | R4 | R3 | Moderate density multiple family district intended for residential areas of cities as well as areas of county with community services. |
| R3B-High-Rise Multiple Family Residential | – | R4 | R4 | High density high/midrise multiple family district intended for cities. |
| Manufactured Housing Park District | ||||
| R5-Manufactured Housing Park | – | – | – | Manufactured home parks and related community uses. |
| Business | ||||
| B1-Neighborhood Commercial | LB | LB | B3 | Smaller-scale neighborhood commercial nodes for corridors of cities and convenience commercial nodes in county. |
| B2-General Commercial | GB | GB | B2 | Larger scale community commercial uses including shopping centers, big-box retail and auto-oriented commercial services. |
| B3-Highway Commercial | AB | – | – | Commercial centered around highway interchanges to provide services to travelers. |
| OS-Office Service | – | – | B4 | Office district to provide transition from residential to non-residential areas. Also includes medical centers such as hospitals and related medical offices. |
| Downtown | ||||
| CBD1-Downtown Core | – | Downtown Overlay | B1 | Central core/ “Main street” of downtown in cities. Allows for high-rise development and mixture of uses. |
| CBD2-Transition or Hamlet Center | LB & GB | – | – | Mixed use district for small “rural village” downtowns. Includes height limits. |
| Specialized | ||||
| MB-Marina Commercial | – | Downtown Overlay | B5 | Michigan City waterfront district. |
| AP-Airport | – | Airport | Airport | District for La Porte and Michigan City airports. |
| Industrial | ||||
| M1-Light Industrial | IR & I | I | M1 | Light industrial, low-impact manufacturing and consumer service industrial uses. |
| M2-Heavy Industrial | – | GI | M2 & M3 | General manufacturing and heavy industrial uses. |