Zoning Ordinance
The Nevada County Zoning Ordinance provides information on zoning types, site development standards, permitting requirements, allowed land uses, and much more. This ordinance applies to all land uses and development within the unincorporated areas of Nevada County. Ordinance provisions shall be held to be the minimum requirements for the promotion of public safety, health, convenience, comfort, prosperity, and general welfare. The Zoning Ordinance will also be referred to as the "Zoning Regulations" or "Zoning Code".
The Nevada County Zoning Ordinance is adopted in order to achieve the following objectives:
- To serve as the primary tool to implement and ensure consistency with the goals, objectives, and policies of the Nevada County General Plan based upon the following central themes:
- Fostering a rural quality of life.
- Sustaining a quality environment.
- Development of a strong diversified, sustainable local economy.
- Planned land use patterns to determine the level of public services appropriate to the character, economy, and environment of each region.
- To provide for the development of Nevada County as a balanced community with adequate amounts of land zoned in each district to achieve a balance among housing, employment, retail and commercial services, recreation, and public facilities.
- To provide for adequate mechanisms and standards to regulate the surface and subsurface uses of land, structures to meet the needs of residents, commerce, industry, agriculture, forestry, and other purposes in appropriate places.
- To provide for land use regulations that are clear, concise, enforceable, and effectively implement Nevada County General Plan provisions in a reasonable and balanced fashion.
- To provide for the conservation of natural amenities, such as open space, wetlands, native vegetation, and wildlife.
Zoning District Maps
The Nevada County Zoning District Maps (ZDMs) show property-specific zoning and are broken up into several different areas of the County.