Orange Code

Orange County form-based land development regulations

Every city and county has land development regulations that describe where and how new buildings and communities may be built. While there have been many updates since Orange County’s Land Development Code was written in 1957, now is the time to look at the big picture.

Orange Code will refresh and rethink the County’s placemaking regulations for the 21st Century. Orange Code will:

  • Foster a built environment that is sustainable, both environmentally and economically.
  • Streamline the application and project review processes.
  • Protect and enhance the character, form, and scale of Orange County’s diverse communities.
  • Meet the needs of Orange County’s citizens and businesses, both current & future.

Orange Code is a form-based land regulation that will use transect zones which regulate a development’s physical form with special focus on how the development complements the surrounding buildings, streetscape, and community.

How To Use Orange Code

The Orange Code Zoning Map is available through the Gridics Mapping Platform, which enables users to interpret and visualize how municipal zoning rules and ordinances apply to specific properties throughout Orange County.

When searching for your parcel via Gridics, users can check for their respective Transect Zone, Applicable Overlays, Lot Coverage, setbacks and many more site specific standards. Additionally, zoning requirements will be easier to interpret using the zone standard tables such as the example below:

Table 3-1.1(5): T3.2 Low Intensity Neighborhood, Medium Lot

Transect zones:

  • There are 6 Transect Zones identifiers: T1, T2, T3 ,T4, T5 and T6, as well as a secondary identifier (such as T3.1, T3.2, T3.3, and SZ-ED, SZ-LI, and SZ-MH);
  • Check building form standards for each Transect Zones
  • Uses and development in T1 is limited to facilities and amenities for recreation, management, and education, associated with natural lands