Rio Rancho, NM zoning districts
21 districts, 21 with a written citation. Each row says what the district permits by primary use.
City of Rio Rancho, New Mexico (Sandoval County FIPS 35043 plus a Bernalillo County FIPS 35001 portion; Census incorporated place 'Rio Rancho city'). Zoning is RIO RANCHO MUNICIPAL CODE TITLE XV, CHAPTER 154 (PLANNING AND ZONING), a conventional EUCLIDEAN LISTED-USE code. 154.04 is the code's own table of districts and abbreviations; each district then has its OWN section carrying an explicit '(B) Permissive uses' list and '(C) Conditional uses (requiring use permit)' list, and two summary matrices restate them -- the RESIDENTIAL LAND USE TABLE (154.19) and the NONRESIDENTIAL LAND USE TABLE (154.35). PERMISSION MECHANISM, read verbatim off both tables' own headers rather than assumed: 'P = PERMITTED CU = CONDITIONAL USE BLANK = NOT PERMITTED'. P maps to by-right, CU to conditional, and a BLANK cell is an AFFIRMATIVE statement by the code that the use is NOT PERMITTED -- that legend is this table's grounding for every prohibited axis. Rio Rancho has NO general catch-all 'any use not listed is prohibited' clause of the kind Santa Fe carries at SFCC 14-6.1(B)(4); none is invented here, and the blank-cell legend is relied on instead. PRECEDENCE: where the summary table and a district's own section disagree, THE DISTRICT SECTION GOVERNS -- the tables' headers instruct the reader to 'refer to the specific zoning district for details relating to the land uses listed below', and the section is the substantive regulation. One such conflict exists and is material: 154.32(B)(23) permits residential use in the CBD as a secondary or above-first-floor use at up to 50 dwelling units per acre, while the 154.35 matrix leaves that same CBD cell BLANK. The section is followed (residential by-right) and the CBD row's confidence is capped at medium because the adopted code contradicts itself on its face. USE FAMILIES are assigned as follows and the assignment is declared rather than left implicit: RESIDENTIAL = principal dwelling uses (single-family detached/attached, townhome/patio home, multi-family, mobile home, live/work units, and 'residential uses as secondary use or above the first floor'); COMMERCIAL = retail, office, personal service, eating/drinking, lodging, financial, entertainment and vehicle-sales/service uses; INDUSTRIAL = manufacturing at any intensity, 'industrial'/'light industrial', warehousing and indoor storage, wholesale distribution, self-storage, outdoor storage as a PRIMARY use, lumberyards, concrete batching, tire recapping, sheet-metal work, laboratories and experimental stations, recycling collection centers, and auto wrecking/dismantling/salvage. ACCESSORY AND INCIDENTAL USES SET NO TRI-STATE: 'Home occupations', manager/caretaker residences within a structure, outside storage expressly designated an accessory use, and O-1's storage yard (which 154.20(B)(21)(b) requires to be 'ancillary to an office use') are all read as accessory and never promote an axis -- the same posture the frozen Santa Fe table takes on its 'A' cells. INSTITUTIONAL and PUBLIC uses (churches, schools, public facilities, public utilities, parks) inform category only and set no tri-state. USE-ONLY TABLE: no numeric envelope (height, setback, FAR, lot coverage, density) is authored here even though 154.50/154.51 and 154.60/154.61 supply one -- the same frozen posture as Santa Fe, Fort Worth, Dallas, Phoenix, Chicago and Denver (P22); the residential density caps that DO appear in citations are quoted only because they qualify the residential entitlement itself. NO NEW MEXICO STATE-LAW PREEMPTION LAYER EXISTS AND NONE IS AUTHORED OR WIRED (P21): _CITY_STATE_LAWS has no New Mexico entry, so zero state-law modifications are applied. Cited-evidence only -- every tri-state traces to a retrieved section of the currently adopted ch. 154, and where it could not be grounded (SU, Unzoned) the row is honest-null at low confidence, never guessed.
How to read the permissions
By right — allowed without discretionary approval. Conditional use — allowed only with a specific approval. Not permitted — not allowed as a primary use. Not resolved — the ordinance does not settle it in a way we would state as fact.
These describe the district. A specific parcel can also be affected by overlays, corridors, flood zones and site conditions.
| District | Residential | Commercial | Industrial |
|---|---|---|---|
|
A-R
Agricultural Residential District (A-R)
agricultural
|
By right | Not permitted | Not permitted |
| Rio Rancho Municipal Code 154.36. (A) Purpose: 'This district permits low density uses and other uses customarily conducted in agricultural areas.' (B)(1) 'One single-family dwelling per lot or one mobile home per lot' P -> residential by-right. RECORDED CATEGORY JUDGMENT (hence medium, not high): 154.36(B)(6) permits agricultural COMMERCE on lots of at least one acre -- (a) one roadside 'stand for display or sale of agricultural products' not exceeding 400 square feet, and (b) livestock 'for commercial purposes' at declared stocking densities. That is farm-gate activity incidental to agricultural use, not a general commercial entitlement: no retail store, office, restaurant or lodging use appears anywhere in 154.36, so the commercial axis is authored PROHIBITED with an agricultural-commerce-only caveat rather than promoted on the strength of the word 'commercial'. Industrial appears nowhere in the section. Legend read verbatim from the tables' own headers, not assumed: 'P = PERMITTED CU = CONDITIONAL USE BLANK = NOT PERMITTED'. P -> by-right, CU -> conditional, BLANK -> prohibited. A blank cell is therefore an AFFIRMATIVE 'NOT PERMITTED' statement by the code itself, which is this table's grounding for every prohibited axis; Rio Rancho has no separate catch-all clause and none is invented. | |||
|
C-1
Retail Commercial District (C-1)
commercial
|
By right | By right | Conditional use |
| Rio Rancho Municipal Code 154.24. COMMERCIAL BY-RIGHT: (B)(31) 'Stores for the sale of retail goods, products, and services' P, (B)(27) restaurants/bars/lounges P, (B)(11) hotel/motel P, (B)(4) banks P, (B)(16) offices and office buildings P, (B)(9) gasoline service stations, convenience stores and car washes P, (B)(8) drive-in/drive-through restaurants P. RESIDENTIAL BY-RIGHT BUT LIMITED: (B)(26) 'Residential uses as secondary use or above the first floor; provided, that density does not exceed 50 dwelling units per acre' is a PERMISSIVE use -- a real by-right dwelling entitlement, but only as a secondary or upper-floor use, never as a standalone principal dwelling. INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONAL: no manufacturing, warehousing or wholesale use is listed; the industrial-family uses present are (C)(4) 'Recycling collection centers' CU and (C)(5) 'Self-storage facilities' CU (with (C)(1) auto repair, major CU). (B)(17) 'Offset press printing' P and (B)(18) outside storage as an ACCESSORY use are read as a commercial print-shop service and an accessory respectively, and neither is promoted to a principal industrial entitlement. Legend read verbatim from the tables' own headers, not assumed: 'P = PERMITTED CU = CONDITIONAL USE BLANK = NOT PERMITTED'. P -> by-right, CU -> conditional, BLANK -> prohibited. A blank cell is therefore an AFFIRMATIVE 'NOT PERMITTED' statement by the code itself, which is this table's grounding for every prohibited axis; Rio Rancho has no separate catch-all clause and none is invented. PRECEDENCE RULE APPLIED THROUGHOUT: where the summary NONRESIDENTIAL LAND USE TABLE (154.35) and a district's own section disagree, the DISTRICT SECTION governs -- the table's own header instructs the reader to 'refer to the specific zoning district for details', and the section is the substantive regulation. Every such disagreement is named in the row it affects and caps that row's confidence. | |||
|
C-2
Wholesale and Warehousing Commercial District (C-2)
commercial mixed
|
By right | By right | By right |
| Rio Rancho Municipal Code 154.25. INDUSTRIAL BY-RIGHT: (B)(45) 'Warehouse and indoor storage' P, (B)(46) 'Wholesale commercial' P, (B)(15) lumberyards P, (B)(39) self-storage facilities P, (B)(36) sales of sheet metal products P, (B)(16) machinery and farm sales/repairing/overhauling P (concealed storage and repair area required). THE LIMIT IS REAL AND IS CARRIED AS A CAVEAT: MANUFACTURING IS NOT BY-RIGHT HERE -- (C)(3) 'Light industrial' and (C)(4) 'Light manufacturing' are CONDITIONAL, and (C)(1) auto wrecking/salvage/contractor's yards is conditional with enclosure requirements; so the by-right industrial entitlement is distribution and storage, not production. COMMERCIAL BY-RIGHT: (B)(41) stores for retail P, (B)(35) restaurants P, (B)(14) hotel/motel P, (B)(22) offices P, (B)(5) automotive dealers P, (B)(3) auto repair major P. RESIDENTIAL BY-RIGHT BUT LIMITED: (B)(34) 'Residential uses as secondary use or above the first floor' P at up to 50 dwelling units per acre, with the same (a)-(d) conditions as NC including 'The residence can be used as a residence but cannot be used in a business capacity'. Nuisance ceiling is the COMPUTED high-intensity (industrial by-right); no override is recorded, because a district permitting lumberyards, machinery overhaul and sheet-metal sales by right and auto salvage conditionally genuinely reaches that ceiling. Legend read verbatim from the tables' own headers, not assumed: 'P = PERMITTED CU = CONDITIONAL USE BLANK = NOT PERMITTED'. P -> by-right, CU -> conditional, BLANK -> prohibited. A blank cell is therefore an AFFIRMATIVE 'NOT PERMITTED' statement by the code itself, which is this table's grounding for every prohibited axis; Rio Rancho has no separate catch-all clause and none is invented. PRECEDENCE RULE APPLIED THROUGHOUT: where the summary NONRESIDENTIAL LAND USE TABLE (154.35) and a district's own section disagree, the DISTRICT SECTION governs -- the table's own header instructs the reader to 'refer to the specific zoning district for details', and the section is the substantive regulation. Every such disagreement is named in the row it affects and caps that row's confidence. | |||
|
CBD
Central Business District (CBD)
commercial core
|
By right | By right | By right |
| Rio Rancho Municipal Code 154.32 -- the City Centre downtown district (14 polygons). COMMERCIAL BY-RIGHT: (B)(7) department stores P, (B)(25) stores for the sale of retail goods P, (B)(22) restaurants/bars/lounges P, (B)(9) hotel/motel P, (B)(15) office and corporate headquarters P, (B)(26) travel bureaus P, (B)(1) auditoriums/theatres/indoor entertainment P. INDUSTRIAL BY-RIGHT BUT LIGHT ONLY: (B)(12) 'Light manufacturing' P, (B)(10) 'Laboratories, research, and experimental stations' P, (B)(24) 'Sales, display room/building for wholesaler, distributor, etc.' P -- while 'Industrial', 'Manufacturing', 'Warehouse and indoor storage' and 'Wholesale commercial' appear NOWHERE in 154.32. Because the by-right industrial entitlement is confined to light manufacturing and laboratories, an explicit nuisance override to medium-intensity is recorded rather than the mechanical high-intensity the resolver would otherwise compute (the frozen Santa Fe BCD / Austin CBD precedent). RESIDENTIAL -- AND THE REASON THIS ROW IS MEDIUM, NOT HIGH: the two adopted provisions DISAGREE. The district section 154.32(B)(23) permits 'Residential uses as secondary use or above the first floor; provided, that density shall not exceed 50 dwelling units per acre', while the summary NONRESIDENTIAL LAND USE TABLE at 154.35 leaves the CBD cell for that same use BLANK, which its own legend defines as NOT PERMITTED. The district section governs (154.35's header directs the reader to the specific district, and 154.32 carries the later amendments, Ord. 22-12 and Ord. 22-20), so residential is authored BY-RIGHT with the secondary/upper-floor and 50 du/acre caveats -- but the conflict is real, unresolved on the face of the code, and caps confidence at medium instead of being silently resolved in our favour. Form is governed by 154.32(A)(3): 'The CBD shall utilize the City Centre Master Plan and accompanying regulating design standards'. Legend read verbatim from the tables' own headers, not assumed: 'P = PERMITTED CU = CONDITIONAL USE BLANK = NOT PERMITTED'. P -> by-right, CU -> conditional, BLANK -> prohibited. A blank cell is therefore an AFFIRMATIVE 'NOT PERMITTED' statement by the code itself, which is this table's grounding for every prohibited axis; Rio Rancho has no separate catch-all clause and none is invented. PRECEDENCE RULE APPLIED THROUGHOUT: where the summary NONRESIDENTIAL LAND USE TABLE (154.35) and a district's own section disagree, the DISTRICT SECTION governs -- the table's own header instructs the reader to 'refer to the specific zoning district for details', and the section is the substantive regulation. Every such disagreement is named in the row it affects and caps that row's confidence. | |||
|
E-1
Estate Residential District (E-1)
residential low
|
By right | Not permitted | Not permitted |
| Rio Rancho Municipal Code 154.05. (A) Purpose: 'This district permits a very low density of population in which the principal land use is single-family dwellings.' (B)(1) 'One single-family dwelling unit per lot' P -> residential by-right. E-1 additionally permits horses by lot-area criteria ((B)(4): one acre for the first horse, half an acre each thereafter) and stable accessory structures; 154.19 shows 'Commercial horse boarding' CU and 'Transfer of horse stable rights' CU in E-1 only -- both are agricultural/accessory, not general commerce, so the commercial axis stays prohibited. The RESIDENTIAL LAND USE TABLE (RMC 154.19) lists NO commercial and NO industrial use in any residential column, so both axes are prohibited. 'Home occupations' (P) is an ACCESSORY use to a dwelling under 154.70 and does NOT establish a principal commercial entitlement; 'Short-term rental unit' (ch. 123) is occupancy of a dwelling, not a principal lodging establishment. Neither is read as a commercial tri-state. Legend read verbatim from the tables' own headers, not assumed: 'P = PERMITTED CU = CONDITIONAL USE BLANK = NOT PERMITTED'. P -> by-right, CU -> conditional, BLANK -> prohibited. A blank cell is therefore an AFFIRMATIVE 'NOT PERMITTED' statement by the code itself, which is this table's grounding for every prohibited axis; Rio Rancho has no separate catch-all clause and none is invented. | |||
|
M-1
Industrial and Business Park District (M-1)
industrial
|
By right | By right | By right |
| Rio Rancho Municipal Code 154.28 -- the city's only general industrial district. INDUSTRIAL BY-RIGHT AND UNUSUALLY BROAD: (B)(19) 'Industrial' P, (B)(26) 'Manufacturing' P, (B)(21) 'Light industrial' P, (B)(22) 'Light manufacturing' P, (B)(13) 'Concrete batching plants, concrete products' P (dust control and screening required), (B)(31) 'Outside storage, as a primary use' P, (B)(52) warehouse and indoor storage P, (B)(53) wholesale commercial P, (B)(50) tire recapping or retreading P, (B)(23) lumberyards P; (C) automobile dismantling yard CU with enclosure requirements. COMMERCIAL BY-RIGHT: (B)(48) stores for retail P, (B)(42) restaurants P, (B)(17) hotel/motel P, (B)(8) banks and office buildings P. RESIDENTIAL BY-RIGHT BUT LIMITED: (B)(41) 'Residential uses as secondary use or above the first floor' P at up to 50 dwelling units per acre with the same (a)-(d) conditions; (B)(12) community residential care facilities P. NUISANCE-RELEVANT FACT A BUYER SHOULD SEE: (B)(1) permits 'Adults-only bookstores, adults-only motion picture theaters, and adult entertainment centers' by right subject to ch. 111 -- M-1 is the only district in Rio Rancho that does. Legend read verbatim from the tables' own headers, not assumed: 'P = PERMITTED CU = CONDITIONAL USE BLANK = NOT PERMITTED'. P -> by-right, CU -> conditional, BLANK -> prohibited. A blank cell is therefore an AFFIRMATIVE 'NOT PERMITTED' statement by the code itself, which is this table's grounding for every prohibited axis; Rio Rancho has no separate catch-all clause and none is invented. PRECEDENCE RULE APPLIED THROUGHOUT: where the summary NONRESIDENTIAL LAND USE TABLE (154.35) and a district's own section disagree, the DISTRICT SECTION governs -- the table's own header instructs the reader to 'refer to the specific zoning district for details', and the section is the substantive regulation. Every such disagreement is named in the row it affects and caps that row's confidence. | |||
|
MH
Mobile Home Residential District (M-H)
residential low
|
By right | Not permitted | Not permitted |
| Rio Rancho Municipal Code 154.16 (ordinance district 'M-H'; the GIS layer emits it WITHOUT the hyphen as 'MH', which is the key authored here). (A) Purpose: 'This district permits a low density of population in which the principal use is a mobile home dwelling.' (B)(1) 'One mobile home per lot' P -> residential by-right. CRITICAL and counter-intuitive: 'Single-family dwelling unit' is BLANK for M-H in table 154.19 and a site-built single-family dwelling appears NOWHERE in 154.16(B) -- the district permits a MOBILE HOME per lot and not a conventional house. The mobile-home-only caveat carries that; inferring 'residential district = you may build a house' from the district name would be wrong here. The RESIDENTIAL LAND USE TABLE (RMC 154.19) lists NO commercial and NO industrial use in any residential column, so both axes are prohibited. 'Home occupations' (P) is an ACCESSORY use to a dwelling under 154.70 and does NOT establish a principal commercial entitlement; 'Short-term rental unit' (ch. 123) is occupancy of a dwelling, not a principal lodging establishment. Neither is read as a commercial tri-state. Legend read verbatim from the tables' own headers, not assumed: 'P = PERMITTED CU = CONDITIONAL USE BLANK = NOT PERMITTED'. P -> by-right, CU -> conditional, BLANK -> prohibited. A blank cell is therefore an AFFIRMATIVE 'NOT PERMITTED' statement by the code itself, which is this table's grounding for every prohibited axis; Rio Rancho has no separate catch-all clause and none is invented. | |||
|
MU-A
Mixed Use Activity Center District (MU-A)
mixed use
|
By right | By right | Not permitted |
| Rio Rancho Municipal Code 154.31. RESIDENTIAL BY-RIGHT AS A PRINCIPAL USE -- the distinguishing fact of this district and the reason it is NOT authored like C-1: (F)(30) 'Residential, multi-family' is a PERMISSIVE use in its own right, joined by (F)(18) 'Live/work units' P and (F)(31) residential as secondary use or above the first floor P, with (G)(7) 'Townhomes and row houses' CU. MU-A is the only Rio Rancho commercial-family district where a standalone dwelling is permitted rather than confined to a secondary or upper-floor position. COMMERCIAL BY-RIGHT: (F)(36) stores for the sale of retail goods P, (F)(32) restaurants/bars/lounges P, (F)(15) hotel/motel P, (F)(5) bed and breakfast P, (F)(4) banks P, (F)(23) offices P; scale is gated by (G)(5) -- retail 'greater than 15,000 square feet' requires a conditional use permit, which the caveat carries. INDUSTRIAL PROHIBITED: no manufacturing, industrial, warehousing, wholesale, self-storage or outdoor-storage use appears anywhere in 154.31(F) or (G). Legend read verbatim from the tables' own headers, not assumed: 'P = PERMITTED CU = CONDITIONAL USE BLANK = NOT PERMITTED'. P -> by-right, CU -> conditional, BLANK -> prohibited. A blank cell is therefore an AFFIRMATIVE 'NOT PERMITTED' statement by the code itself, which is this table's grounding for every prohibited axis; Rio Rancho has no separate catch-all clause and none is invented. PRECEDENCE RULE APPLIED THROUGHOUT: where the summary NONRESIDENTIAL LAND USE TABLE (154.35) and a district's own section disagree, the DISTRICT SECTION governs -- the table's own header instructs the reader to 'refer to the specific zoning district for details', and the section is the substantive regulation. Every such disagreement is named in the row it affects and caps that row's confidence. | |||
|
NC
Neighborhood Commercial District (NC)
commercial neighborhood
|
By right | By right | Conditional use |
| Rio Rancho Municipal Code 154.22. COMMERCIAL BY-RIGHT: (B)(15) 'Stores for the sale of retail goods, products, and services; provided, that gasoline stations are not permitted' P, (B)(12) restaurants/bars/lounges P (no drive-in or drive-up, outdoor seating at least 75 feet from any residential zone), (B)(2) banks P, (B)(5) medical/professional offices P. RESIDENTIAL BY-RIGHT BUT STRUCTURALLY LIMITED: (B)(11) 'Residential uses as secondary use or above the first floor' is a PERMISSIVE use, subject to (a) density not exceeding 26 dwelling units per acre, (b) exterior materials matching the primary business structure, (c) location as part of or behind the primary business structure, and (d) 'The residence can be used as a residence but cannot be used in a business capacity' -- i.e. a dwelling is permitted here only as an adjunct to a business use, never as a standalone principal use. INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONAL: the only industrial-family uses in the district are (C)(1) 'Research and development offices' CU and (C)(3) 'Self-storage facilities' CU; no manufacturing, warehousing or wholesale use appears at all, hence the light-industrial-only caveat. IMPORTANT DATA NOTE: one live polygon carries Zoning='NC' with FullDesc='Single-Family Residential'. That description is wrong against the ordinance and is disregarded -- the district is authored from 154.22, which is a COMMERCIAL district. Legend read verbatim from the tables' own headers, not assumed: 'P = PERMITTED CU = CONDITIONAL USE BLANK = NOT PERMITTED'. P -> by-right, CU -> conditional, BLANK -> prohibited. A blank cell is therefore an AFFIRMATIVE 'NOT PERMITTED' statement by the code itself, which is this table's grounding for every prohibited axis; Rio Rancho has no separate catch-all clause and none is invented. PRECEDENCE RULE APPLIED THROUGHOUT: where the summary NONRESIDENTIAL LAND USE TABLE (154.35) and a district's own section disagree, the DISTRICT SECTION governs -- the table's own header instructs the reader to 'refer to the specific zoning district for details', and the section is the substantive regulation. Every such disagreement is named in the row it affects and caps that row's confidence. | |||
|
O-1
Office District (O-1)
office
|
Conditional use | By right | Not permitted |
| Rio Rancho Municipal Code 154.20. COMMERCIAL BY-RIGHT: (B)(2) banks and other financial institutions P, (B)(12) 'Offices and office buildings' P, (B)(14) personal services P, (B)(10) medical supplies/services and dental/medical lab P, (B)(17) radio or television studios P. RESIDENTIAL CONDITIONAL: dwellings appear ONLY at (C)(5) 'Residential uses as secondary use or above the first floor; provided, that the density shall not exceed 26 dwelling units per acre' -- a CONDITIONAL use requiring a use permit and site plan, and even then only as a secondary or upper-floor use; (B)(9) manager/caretaker residence is accessory within the structure and sets no principal entitlement. INDUSTRIAL PROHIBITED, grounded not merely on absence: the one storage-flavoured cell, (B)(21) 'Storage structure or yard for equipment', is expressly limited by (B)(21)(b) -- 'The storage shall be ancillary to an office use and located in the back or rear yard' -- so it is accessory to the office use and not a principal industrial entitlement. No manufacturing, warehousing or wholesale use appears in 154.20. Legend read verbatim from the tables' own headers, not assumed: 'P = PERMITTED CU = CONDITIONAL USE BLANK = NOT PERMITTED'. P -> by-right, CU -> conditional, BLANK -> prohibited. A blank cell is therefore an AFFIRMATIVE 'NOT PERMITTED' statement by the code itself, which is this table's grounding for every prohibited axis; Rio Rancho has no separate catch-all clause and none is invented. PRECEDENCE RULE APPLIED THROUGHOUT: where the summary NONRESIDENTIAL LAND USE TABLE (154.35) and a district's own section disagree, the DISTRICT SECTION governs -- the table's own header instructs the reader to 'refer to the specific zoning district for details', and the section is the substantive regulation. Every such disagreement is named in the row it affects and caps that row's confidence. | |||
|
OS
Open Space District (OS)
special
|
Not permitted | Not permitted | Not permitted |
| Rio Rancho Municipal Code 154.40. (A) Purpose: to 'permit beneficial low-impact recreational uses and outdoor education that minimize disruption of the land's natural systems'. (B) permissive uses are natural areas, land undergoing restoration, regional preserves, flood-water facilities, buffer land, incidental structures covering no more than five percent of the ground area, trail/parking amenities and unpaved service roads. NO dwelling, NO commercial and NO industrial use appears in the section -- all three axes prohibited. (C) makes 'Development, including public utilities, roads other than unimproved service roads, ... visitor center, ... parking lot with more than 25 spaces' a CONDITIONAL use that must be shown to accord with the comprehensive plan and applicable open-space master plan. Legend read verbatim from the tables' own headers, not assumed: 'P = PERMITTED CU = CONDITIONAL USE BLANK = NOT PERMITTED'. P -> by-right, CU -> conditional, BLANK -> prohibited. A blank cell is therefore an AFFIRMATIVE 'NOT PERMITTED' statement by the code itself, which is this table's grounding for every prohibited axis; Rio Rancho has no separate catch-all clause and none is invented. | |||
|
PR
Parks and Recreation District (PR)
special
|
Not permitted | Not permitted | Not permitted |
| Rio Rancho Municipal Code 154.42. (A) Purpose: to 'provide green space for active recreation and sports activities, relaxation, social interaction'. (B) permissive uses are parks and plazas (playgrounds, off-leash dog areas, skateboard facilities, sport courts and fields, bathrooms, pavilions, community and recreation centers, pools, trails), botanical gardens and gardens open to the public, and roads/public utilities necessary to the park. (C) conditional uses are golf courses, cemeteries, natural areas, restoration land, regional preserves, flood-water facilities and incidental structures under five percent ground coverage. NO dwelling, commercial or industrial use appears -- all three axes prohibited. Legend read verbatim from the tables' own headers, not assumed: 'P = PERMITTED CU = CONDITIONAL USE BLANK = NOT PERMITTED'. P -> by-right, CU -> conditional, BLANK -> prohibited. A blank cell is therefore an AFFIRMATIVE 'NOT PERMITTED' statement by the code itself, which is this table's grounding for every prohibited axis; Rio Rancho has no separate catch-all clause and none is invented. | |||
|
R-1
Single-Family Residential District (R-1)
residential low
|
By right | Not permitted | Not permitted |
| Rio Rancho Municipal Code 154.08. (A) Purpose: 'This district permits a low density of population in which the primary land use is a single-family dwelling unit.' (B)(1) 'One single-family dwelling unit per lot' P -> residential by-right. Conditional uses are institutional only (hospitals/educational institutions, family child care 7+, hobby breeders). The RESIDENTIAL LAND USE TABLE (RMC 154.19) lists NO commercial and NO industrial use in any residential column, so both axes are prohibited. 'Home occupations' (P) is an ACCESSORY use to a dwelling under 154.70 and does NOT establish a principal commercial entitlement; 'Short-term rental unit' (ch. 123) is occupancy of a dwelling, not a principal lodging establishment. Neither is read as a commercial tri-state. Legend read verbatim from the tables' own headers, not assumed: 'P = PERMITTED CU = CONDITIONAL USE BLANK = NOT PERMITTED'. P -> by-right, CU -> conditional, BLANK -> prohibited. A blank cell is therefore an AFFIRMATIVE 'NOT PERMITTED' statement by the code itself, which is this table's grounding for every prohibited axis; Rio Rancho has no separate catch-all clause and none is invented. | |||
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R-2
Single-Family Residential District (R-2)
residential low
|
By right | Not permitted | Not permitted |
| Rio Rancho Municipal Code 154.09. (A) Purpose: 'This district permits a moderate density of population in which the primary land use is a single-family dwelling unit.' (B)(1) 'One single-family dwelling unit per lot' P -> residential by-right. Conditional uses are institutional only (hospitals/educational institutions, family child care 7+, hobby breeders). The RESIDENTIAL LAND USE TABLE (RMC 154.19) lists NO commercial and NO industrial use in any residential column, so both axes are prohibited. 'Home occupations' (P) is an ACCESSORY use to a dwelling under 154.70 and does NOT establish a principal commercial entitlement; 'Short-term rental unit' (ch. 123) is occupancy of a dwelling, not a principal lodging establishment. Neither is read as a commercial tri-state. Legend read verbatim from the tables' own headers, not assumed: 'P = PERMITTED CU = CONDITIONAL USE BLANK = NOT PERMITTED'. P -> by-right, CU -> conditional, BLANK -> prohibited. A blank cell is therefore an AFFIRMATIVE 'NOT PERMITTED' statement by the code itself, which is this table's grounding for every prohibited axis; Rio Rancho has no separate catch-all clause and none is invented. | |||
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R-3
Mixed Residential District (R-3)
residential medium
|
By right | Not permitted | Not permitted |
| Rio Rancho Municipal Code 154.10. (A) Purpose: 'This district permits a moderate density of population in which the principal use is single-family attached or detached townhome or patio home dwelling units or for small-scale multi-family units.' (B)(1)-(3) single-family detached, single-family attached, and 'Townhome, patio home, or similar development' all P; 154.19 shows 'Multi-family dwelling unit' CU and 'Senior transitional care facilities' CU in R-3 -> residential by-right at the single-family/townhome level with multi-family reaching only conditional. The RESIDENTIAL LAND USE TABLE (RMC 154.19) lists NO commercial and NO industrial use in any residential column, so both axes are prohibited. 'Home occupations' (P) is an ACCESSORY use to a dwelling under 154.70 and does NOT establish a principal commercial entitlement; 'Short-term rental unit' (ch. 123) is occupancy of a dwelling, not a principal lodging establishment. Neither is read as a commercial tri-state. Legend read verbatim from the tables' own headers, not assumed: 'P = PERMITTED CU = CONDITIONAL USE BLANK = NOT PERMITTED'. P -> by-right, CU -> conditional, BLANK -> prohibited. A blank cell is therefore an AFFIRMATIVE 'NOT PERMITTED' statement by the code itself, which is this table's grounding for every prohibited axis; Rio Rancho has no separate catch-all clause and none is invented. | |||
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R-4
Single-Family Residential District (R-4)
residential low
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By right | Not permitted | Not permitted |
| Rio Rancho Municipal Code 154.11. (A) Purpose: 'This district permits a moderate density of population in which the primary land use is a single-family dwelling unit.' (B)(1) 'One single-family dwelling unit per lot' P -> residential by-right. Conditional uses are institutional only (hospitals/educational institutions, family child care 7+, hobby breeders). The RESIDENTIAL LAND USE TABLE (RMC 154.19) lists NO commercial and NO industrial use in any residential column, so both axes are prohibited. 'Home occupations' (P) is an ACCESSORY use to a dwelling under 154.70 and does NOT establish a principal commercial entitlement; 'Short-term rental unit' (ch. 123) is occupancy of a dwelling, not a principal lodging establishment. Neither is read as a commercial tri-state. Legend read verbatim from the tables' own headers, not assumed: 'P = PERMITTED CU = CONDITIONAL USE BLANK = NOT PERMITTED'. P -> by-right, CU -> conditional, BLANK -> prohibited. A blank cell is therefore an AFFIRMATIVE 'NOT PERMITTED' statement by the code itself, which is this table's grounding for every prohibited axis; Rio Rancho has no separate catch-all clause and none is invented. | |||
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R-5
Single-Family Residential District (R-5)
residential low
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By right | Not permitted | Not permitted |
| Rio Rancho Municipal Code 154.12. (A) Purpose: 'This district permits a moderately high density of population in which the primary land use is a single-family dwelling unit.' (B)(1) 'One single-family dwelling unit per lot' P -> residential by-right. Conditional uses are institutional only (hospitals/educational institutions, family child care 7+, hobby breeders). The RESIDENTIAL LAND USE TABLE (RMC 154.19) lists NO commercial and NO industrial use in any residential column, so both axes are prohibited. 'Home occupations' (P) is an ACCESSORY use to a dwelling under 154.70 and does NOT establish a principal commercial entitlement; 'Short-term rental unit' (ch. 123) is occupancy of a dwelling, not a principal lodging establishment. Neither is read as a commercial tri-state. Legend read verbatim from the tables' own headers, not assumed: 'P = PERMITTED CU = CONDITIONAL USE BLANK = NOT PERMITTED'. P -> by-right, CU -> conditional, BLANK -> prohibited. A blank cell is therefore an AFFIRMATIVE 'NOT PERMITTED' statement by the code itself, which is this table's grounding for every prohibited axis; Rio Rancho has no separate catch-all clause and none is invented. | |||
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R-6
Multi-Family Residential District (R-6)
residential high
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By right | Not permitted | Not permitted |
| Rio Rancho Municipal Code 154.13. (A) Purpose: 'This district permits a high density of population in which the principal use is multi-family dwelling units.' (B)(1)-(5) single-family P, single-family attached/detached P, 'Multiple-family dwelling units for sale or rent that are attached are allowed up to a density of 50 dwelling units/acre' P, senior transitional care to 50 du/acre P, townhome/patio home P -> residential by-right. NOTE the honest asymmetry: R-6 is the ONE residential district whose 154.19 'Short-term rentals' cell is BLANK and whose 154.13(B) list omits the short-term rental unit that R-1 through R-5 and E-1 each carry -- so short-term rental is NOT permitted in Rio Rancho's densest residential district. The RESIDENTIAL LAND USE TABLE (RMC 154.19) lists NO commercial and NO industrial use in any residential column, so both axes are prohibited. 'Home occupations' (P) is an ACCESSORY use to a dwelling under 154.70 and does NOT establish a principal commercial entitlement; 'Short-term rental unit' (ch. 123) is occupancy of a dwelling, not a principal lodging establishment. Neither is read as a commercial tri-state. Legend read verbatim from the tables' own headers, not assumed: 'P = PERMITTED CU = CONDITIONAL USE BLANK = NOT PERMITTED'. P -> by-right, CU -> conditional, BLANK -> prohibited. A blank cell is therefore an AFFIRMATIVE 'NOT PERMITTED' statement by the code itself, which is this table's grounding for every prohibited axis; Rio Rancho has no separate catch-all clause and none is invented. | |||
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SU
Special Use District (SU)
special
Lower confidence — verify against the ordinance before relying on it.
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Not resolved | Not resolved | Not resolved |
| Rio Rancho Municipal Code 154.43 -- SITE-SPECIFIC BY CONSTRUCTION, and the second-largest district in the city (664 polygons, 18% of all zoned polygons). (A) Purpose: 'This zoning district is suitable for property which is special because of its potential effect on surrounding property, or for other reasons in which the appropriateness is partially or entirely dependent on the character of the site.' The SU designation is expressly used '(a) To restrict uses otherwise permitted in an underlying zoning district; (b) To allow a combination of uses not otherwise permitted in an underlying district; (c) To establish a singular land use; (d) To establish requirements or conditions that are unique to the property'. (A)(2) 'An application for a change to SU zoning must state the proposed land use(s)' and (A)(3) 'All SU zoned property must have a site plan approved by the Governing Body'. (B) lists candidate special uses 'including but not limited to' airport, amusement park, cemetery, resorts/spas, racetrack, stadium, indoor shooting range, manufactured/mobile home park, recreational vehicle park, concrete batching plant and outdoor theater -- a set spanning every use family from a stadium to a concrete plant. THEREFORE ALL THREE PERMISSION AXES ARE HONEST-NULL AND CONFIDENCE IS LOW: what is permitted on an SU parcel is fixed by that parcel's OWN adopted site plan and zoning action, and no table row can state it. Assigning this district a tri-state from its most common neighbours would hand one row's permissions to 664 distinct site-specific approvals -- the exact bare-prefix failure mode the Dallas PD and Vancouver CD-1 precedents forbid. The deterministic FACT we DO publish is that the site's own approved site plan controls (site_specific). 154.19 and 154.35 both note separately that 'There may be uses not listed in the table that can be permitted under the SU District', confirming SU is the code's open-ended escape hatch. Legend read verbatim from the tables' own headers, not assumed: 'P = PERMITTED CU = CONDITIONAL USE BLANK = NOT PERMITTED'. P -> by-right, CU -> conditional, BLANK -> prohibited. A blank cell is therefore an AFFIRMATIVE 'NOT PERMITTED' statement by the code itself, which is this table's grounding for every prohibited axis; Rio Rancho has no separate catch-all clause and none is invented. | |||
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TZ
Transitional Zoning District (T-Z)
residential low
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By right | Not permitted | Not permitted |
| Rio Rancho Municipal Code 154.44 (ordinance district 'T-Z'; the GIS layer emits it WITHOUT the hyphen as 'TZ', which is the key authored here). 391 polygons -- the third-largest district in the city. (A) 'This zoning district permits low density residential uses on an interim basis for newly annexed areas. All provisions of the R-1 District shall apply to those areas zoned T-Z except as noted below.' (F)(1) 'One single-family dwelling unit per lot' P -> residential by-right; no commercial or industrial use appears in (F). THREE EXCEPTIONS THAT MATTER TO A BUYER AND ARE NOT INFERABLE FROM THE NAME: (C) 'No conditional uses shall be allowed in the Transitional Zoning District' -- the CU escape hatch every other district has is closed here; (D) 'No subdivision of property shall be permitted in the Transitional Zoning District, except for lot consolidation'; and (E) a permanent zoning district is to be adopted by the Governing Body once long-term land use policies are determined, so the current entitlement is expressly INTERIM. Legend read verbatim from the tables' own headers, not assumed: 'P = PERMITTED CU = CONDITIONAL USE BLANK = NOT PERMITTED'. P -> by-right, CU -> conditional, BLANK -> prohibited. A blank cell is therefore an AFFIRMATIVE 'NOT PERMITTED' statement by the code itself, which is this table's grounding for every prohibited axis; Rio Rancho has no separate catch-all clause and none is invented. | |||
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Unzoned
Unzoned (no district assigned)
unzoned
Lower confidence — verify against the ordinance before relying on it.
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Not resolved | Not resolved | Not resolved |
| NOT AN ORDINANCE DISTRICT. 'Unzoned' is a literal value carried by the City's GIS Zoning layer (32 polygons) and appears NOWHERE in the RMC ch. 154 district table at 154.04 or in any district section. It records that the polygon has no zoning district assigned -- typically newly annexed, right-of-way or otherwise unclassified land. All three permission axes are honest-null with low confidence: there is no district, so there is no use table to read, and inventing one would be a fabrication. A parcel resolving here needs a zoning determination from the City of Rio Rancho Development Services Department before any use claim can be made. | |||
Sources
- City of Rio Rancho, NM -- RIO RANCHO MUNICIPAL CODE, TITLE XV LAND USAGE, CHAPTER 154 PLANNING AND ZONING. Retrieved 2026-07-28 from the City's official codification host, Code Publishing Company: https://www.codepublishing.com/NM/RioRancho/html/RioRancho150/RioRancho154.html (chapter index: https://www.codepublishing.com/NM/RioRancho/). CODIFICATION STATE AS PUBLISHED ON THE RETRIEVED PAGE: 'The Rio Rancho Municipal Code is current through Ordinance 25-27, passed November 13, 2025.', with Title XV shown as 'Revised 3/26'; the latest amending ordinances cited inside ch. 154 itself are Ord. 24-24 and Ord. 25-02. Sections used: 154.04 (table of districts and abbreviations), 154.05 (E-1), 154.08 (R-1), 154.09 (R-2), 154.10 (R-3), 154.11 (R-4), 154.12 (R-5), 154.13 (R-6), 154.16 (M-H), 154.19 (Residential Land Use Table), 154.20 (O-1), 154.22 (NC), 154.24 (C-1), 154.25 (C-2), 154.28 (M-1), 154.31 (MU-A), 154.32 (CBD), 154.35 (Nonresidential Land Use Table), 154.36 (A-R), 154.40 (OS), 154.41 (OZ overlay zones), 154.42 (PR), 154.43 (SU), 154.44 (T-Z), plus 154.70-154.75 for the accessory/temporary-use definitions relied on when declining to promote an accessory cell to a principal entitlement.
- TWO matrices, both retrieved 2026-07-28 as structured table markup from the ch. 154 page and both parsed cell-by-cell with column alignment verified (every row in both tables carries exactly the same cell count as its header, so no colspan/rowspan misalignment can have shifted a value into the wrong district column): the RESIDENTIAL LAND USE TABLE (154.19), 26 use rows x 8 district columns (E-1 | R-1 | R-2 | R-3 | R-4 | R-5 | R-6 | M-H); and the NONRESIDENTIAL LAND USE TABLE (154.35), 94 use rows x 8 district columns (O-1 | NC | C-1 | C-2 | M-1 | MU-A | CBD | BP). The legend 'P = PERMITTED CU = CONDITIONAL USE BLANK = NOT PERMITTED' was read from the tables' own headers, not assumed. The matrices were used as a CROSS-CHECK; where a matrix and a district section disagreed the section governed, and the one material disagreement (CBD residential) is recorded in that row and in jurisdiction_note.
- Live City of Rio Rancho zoning layer -- gis.rrnm.gov/arcgis/rest/services/GIS_Hub/Zoning/FeatureServer/0 ('Zoning'), fields OBJECTID, Enact, Zoning (the district code), FullDesc (the City's own district description), GlobalID. Enumerated 2026-07-28 by PAGINATING THE LAYER TO EXHAUSTION (resultOffset walk, 3,660 polygons total) and cross-checked against a server-side groupByFieldsForStatistics count -- both agree on 21 distinct 'Zoning' values with identical per-code counts: R-1 1278, SU 664, TZ 391, R-4 325, C-1 225, R-3 174, E-1 103, NC 88, M-1 74, OS 71, R-2 62, C-2 48, Unzoned 32, MU-A 29, R-6 25, PR 18, O-1 18, R-5 17, CBD 14, A-R 2, MH 2. This is the registry entry's own runtime zoning source. FullDesc is NOT read at request time and was used only as a weak cross-check, because it is demonstrably dirty -- see the 'NC' polygon described as 'Single-Family Residential' and the null-FullDesc 'R-1' polygon noted in the city entry's authoring_note.
Table verified against the sources above on 2026-07-28. Ordinances change, so check the current code before relying on any row for a decision.
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