Zoning for Infill Development: San Antonio’s Create-Your-Own Zoning District

Problem, research strategy, and findingsIn the past two decades, planning researchers and professionals have widely discussed zoning innovations supporting growth management and infill. Traditional Euclidean zoning ordinances restrict infill possibilities by specifying lot size, setbacks, parking, and single-use requirements. Here, we examined the effectiveness of San Antonio’s (TX) Infill Development Zone (IDZ), a regulatory tool for incremental infill development. By analyzing 7 years of IDZ rezoning requests and current distributions of all IDZ parcels, we found that this zoning tool fostered flexibility for various types of infill development throughout the urban core without forgoing regulatory oversight. Cities seeking to encourage infill through an incremental approach could find the IDZ model beneficial.Takeaway for practicePlanners aim to support infill with regulatory flexibility while avoiding concerns arising from unrestrained development. Increasing density and repurposing underused lots through infill can promote walkable mixed-use areas, middle housing options, live–work opportunities, and historic retrofitting. We present a longstanding infill development code that achieved these goals throughout the urban core of a major U.S. city. Other cities using a Euclidean-style ordinance can adopt a similar incremental tool for infill development.