# Planning and zoning terms, in plain words

What each filing means, how it moves through a city or county, and what it signals. Boardwalk's glossary explains the planning and zoning terms found in city and county agendas, such as rezoning, preliminary plat, site plan, and annexation. Each term covers what it is, the usual steps, how practice varies by state, and what it signals about a project.

Rules vary by state, county, and city. These pages describe common practice, not legal advice.

Data as of Oct 11, 2026. Page: https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/

## A

- [Annexation](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/annexation/): Annexation brings land from unincorporated county territory into a city, so the city's zoning, services, and taxes apply to it.

## B

- [Board of adjustment](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/board-of-adjustment/): A board of adjustment is an appointed board that decides zoning variances, appeals of staff decisions, and, in some places, special exceptions.

## C

- [City council approval](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/city-council-approval/): City council approval is the elected council's final vote on land use decisions like rezonings, annexations, plan amendments, and development agreements.
- [Comprehensive plan](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/comprehensive-plan/): A comprehensive plan is a city or county's long-range policy for growth, with a future land use map that guides zoning decisions.
- [Comprehensive plan amendment](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/comprehensive-plan-amendment/): A comprehensive plan amendment changes a city or county's long-range plan, most often the future land use map for a specific property.
- [Concept plan](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/concept-plan/): A concept plan is an early, rough layout of a proposed project that a city reviews before the developer files formal applications.
- [Conditional use permit](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/conditional-use-permit/): A conditional use permit allows a use that the zoning permits only after case-by-case review, often with conditions attached.

## D

- [Density bonus](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/density-bonus/): A density bonus lets a developer build more than zoning allows, in exchange for a public benefit like affordable housing.
- [Design review](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/design-review/): Design review checks how a proposed building looks, including materials, height, massing, and landscaping, against a city's design standards.
- [Development agreement](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/development-agreement/): A development agreement is a contract between a local government and a developer setting a project's rules, timing, and public improvements.

## E

- [Easement](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/easement/): An easement lets someone use part of another owner's land for a set purpose, such as a utility line or drainage.
- [Entitlement](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/entitlement/): Entitlement is the process of getting the government approvals needed to develop land, such as rezonings, plats, use permits, and variances.

## F

- [Final plat](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/final-plat/): A final plat is the approved subdivision map recorded with the county, creating legal lots that can be sold and built on.

## I

- [Impact fee](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/impact-fee/): An impact fee is a one-time charge on new development that helps pay for the roads, parks, water, or schools it needs.

## L

- [Lot split](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/lot-split/): A lot split divides one lot into a small number of new lots, usually through a shorter review than a full subdivision.

## M

- [Master-planned community](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/master-planned-community/): A master-planned community is a large development built in phases under one plan, with homes, roads, parks, and often schools and shops.

## O

- [Overlay district](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/overlay-district/): An overlay district adds rules on top of the base zoning in a mapped area, such as design standards downtown.

## P

- [Planned unit development](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/planned-unit-development/): A planned unit development, or PUD, is a custom zoning district for one project, with its own rules for uses and density.
- [Planning commission](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/planning-commission/): A planning commission is an appointed board that reviews development requests and long-range plans, then advises or decides.
- [Plat](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/plat/): A plat is a surveyed map showing how land is divided into lots, streets, and easements, recorded with the county once approved.
- [Preliminary plat](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/preliminary-plat/): A preliminary plat is the first detailed layout of a proposed subdivision, showing lots, streets, and utilities before the final plat.
- [Public hearing](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/public-hearing/): A public hearing is a meeting where anyone can speak on a proposal before the planning commission, council, or board decides.

## R

- [Rezoning](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/rezoning/): A rezoning changes the zoning district on a piece of land, which changes what can be built there and how much.
- [Right-of-way vacation](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/right-of-way-vacation/): A right-of-way vacation is when a city or county gives up a street, alley, or easement it no longer needs.

## S

- [Setback](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/setback/): A setback is the minimum distance a building must sit from a property line, street, or other feature under the zoning code.
- [Site plan](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/site-plan/): A site plan is a drawing of a project on its lot, showing buildings, parking, access, and landscaping, reviewed against the code.
- [Special district](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/special-district/): A special district is a local government unit that funds or runs services like water and roads for one area.
- [Specific plan](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/specific-plan/): A specific plan sets detailed rules for one area or large project, used mainly in California and other Western states.
- [Staff report](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/staff-report/): A staff report is the planning department's written analysis of a development request, with site facts and a recommendation for the board.
- [Subdivision](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/subdivision/): A subdivision divides one piece of land into lots for sale or development, approved through plats showing the new lots and streets.

## T

- [Tax increment financing](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/tax-increment-financing/): Tax increment financing uses the growth in property taxes from new development to pay for public improvements or incentives in that area.

## Z

- [Zoning text amendment](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/zoning-text-amendment/): A zoning text amendment changes the written rules of a zoning code, such as which uses a district allows, not the map.
- [Zoning variance](https://boardwalkai.com/glossary/zoning-variance/): A zoning variance lets one property depart from a zoning rule, such as a setback, when following it would cause a hardship.

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## How to cite

Source: Boardwalk, "Planning and zoning terms, in plain words", boardwalkai.com/glossary/, data as of Oct 11, 2026.

How we count: https://boardwalkai.com/coverage/#how-we-count