Self-storage
Not allowed
- Ordinance symbol
- —
- Code section
- MZO 11-8-2 (Table 11-8-2)
- The code's own words for this use
- Mini-Storage
- Transcription confidence
- high
Expressly shown as a prohibited use (em dash)
Base district · commercial · City of Mesa AZ
Can you build self-storage / multifamily in DB-1 (City of Mesa AZ)?
Downtown Business 1. Mixed-use downtown; Mini-Storage prohibited (only DB-2 allows it)
What you may build in DB-1
Every verdict below is the base-district answer read out of the ordinance of record, with the section that says so. A use with no row is shown as unknown rather than folded into “no”.
Multifamily
Permitted by right
- Ordinance symbol
- P (16)
- Approval body
- Development Plan Review, Chapter 69
- Code section
- MZO 11-8-2 (Table 11-8-2)
- The code's own words for this use
- Multiple Residence (two or more primary dwelling units on a single lot)
- Transcription confidence
- medium
Recorded as permitted. The cited note 16 reads 'Permitted if an existing non-conforming residential use is located on the lot', which cannot be the intended meaning: Table 11-8-3.A publishes a full minimum-lot-area ladder and a maximum density for multi-unit projects in DR-2 and DR-3, and the Additional Use Regulations column points to Chapter 81. Treated as a footnote mis-reference in the published code. VERIFY
Indoor warehousing
Not allowed
- Ordinance symbol
- —
- Code section
- MZO 11-8-2 (Table 11-8-2)
- The code's own words for this use
- Indoor Warehousing and Storage
- Transcription confidence
- high
Expressly prohibited (em dash)
Middle housing
Not allowed
- Ordinance symbol
- —
- Code section
- MZO 11-8-2 (Table 11-8-2)
- The code's own words for this use
- Middle Housing (duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes and townhouses)
- Transcription confidence
- high
Expressly prohibited (em dash)
Mixed use
Permitted by right
- Ordinance symbol
- P
- Approval body
- Development Plan Review, Chapter 69
- Code section
- MZO 11-8-2 (Table 11-8-2)
- The code's own words for this use
- mixed use (residential combined with commercial on one site)
- Transcription confidence
- high
Retail, eating and drinking, offices, personal services and residential are all listed in the same column. Note 15 to Table 11-8-2 makes several commercial rows 'Only permitted in conjunction with non-residential uses'
RV / boat storage
Not allowed
- Code section
- MZO 11-8-2 (Table 11-8-2)
- The code's own words for this use
- Boat and Recreational Vehicle Storage
- Transcription confidence
- high
Not listed in the district use table; the table preamble states 'Use classifications not listed are prohibited'
How big you may build it
A blank cell means this dataset carries no number for that standard — read it as “go and look”, not as zero.
| Standard | Value | Field |
|---|---|---|
| Floor area ratio (FAR) | — | far |
| Maximum height | 50 ft | max_height_ft |
| Maximum site coverage | — | site_coverage |
| Minimum lot area | — | min_lot_area_sf |
| Minimum lot width | — | min_lot_width_ft |
| Minimum lot area per dwelling unit | — | min_lot_area_per_du_sf |
| Maximum density | 40 du / acre | max_du_per_acre_derived |
| Front setback | 15 ft | setback_front_ft |
| Street-side setback | 15 ft | setback_side_street_ft |
| Interior side setback | 0 ft | setback_side_interior_ft |
| Rear setback | 0 ft | setback_rear_ft |
Dimensional standards from MZO 11-8-2 / 11-8-5 (Table 11-8-5).
Standards notes. Height 50 ft applies to non-residential development; Table 11-8-5 states no separate residential height. No minimum lot area or lot coverage standard is stated. Non-residential interior side and rear are 0 ft where not adjacent to residential development and 10 ft where adjacent. Front and street-facing side 15 ft, reducible to 10 ft on an arterial street where not adjacent to residential. Residential setbacks differ: front varies by street class (arterial 15, collector 10, local 10), interior side 10 ft, rear 20 ft. Minimum open space 200 sf per dwelling unit. Building height step-back applies adjacent to single residence uses/districts (11-8-5(A))
No district in this dataset publishes a floor area ratio: intensity in this code is governed by lot coverage, height and — for residential — density or minimum lot area per dwelling unit. See the metro page for the provenance note on that.
Now find out whether it pencils in City of Mesa AZ.
Run the envelope this district allows, free, in about a minute — lot area, FAR or height, and the residual land value it supports.
The quick screen is free and needs no account. The sample study is the seven-page deliverable the Feasibility Desk produces.
Before you rely on this
base district only; overlay geometry not checked — an Airfield or Form-Based Code designation can flip answers
This is a base-district reading of the ordinance text, transcribed from the source below. It is not a Zoning Verification Letter, not a determination by the jurisdiction, not legal advice, and not a substitute for asking the planning department about a specific parcel. Overlays, recorded plan conditions, rezoning stipulations and parcel geometry are not checked here, and any one of them can change the answer on this page.
Verify locally before you spend money. Call the planning counter, pull the parcel's zoning-map designation and its case history, and confirm the section cited above still reads the way it reads here.
Source of record
- Document
- Mesa City Code, Title 11 — Zoning Ordinance (the "MZO")
- Publisher of record
- City of Mesa, hosted on Municode (CivicPlus Codification)
- Codified through
- Ordinance No. 5996, adopted 2026-03-09 (banner text, verbatim)
- Retrieved
- 2026-08-12
Full provenance, the source hashes and the known limitations for City of Mesa AZ →