Land Use

1000: Spaced Rural Residential

Single-family homes located in rural areas with lot sizes greater than one acre. Rural residential estates may have small orchards, fields, or storage buildings associated with the residential dwelling unit; however, the primary land use is residential in nature.

1090: Spaced Rural Residential Without Units

Parcels of land that do not contain a dwelling unit, which are associated with other Spaced Rural Residential parcels, in which land use is residential serving. Includes but not limited to strips of land adjacent to developed land. May include land where a building straddles multiple parcels but the units are clustered over a subset of the parcels.

1100: Single Family Residential

Planned land use only.

1110: Single Family Detached

One or more single-unit structures that are detached from any other structure, typically with some amount of open space on all four sides. Includes instances of homes with detached accessory dwelling units (ADUs), sheds, or garages, as well as mobile homes with permanent expansions (e.g., an additional room). Some developments may include clubhouses, recreation areas, pools, tennis courts, or other amenities associated with the residential development, assuming these uses are not captured in a separate parcel polygon.

1120: Single Family Attached

A structure where single-family units are separated by adjoining, ground-to-roof walls. Examples include row houses, townhouses, single-family homes with adjoining accessory dwelling units (ADUs), and duplex/triplex developments. Some developments may include clubhouses, recreation areas, pools, tennis courts, or other amenities associated with the residential development, assuming these uses are not captured in a separate parcel polygon.

1190: Single Family Residential Without Units

Parcels of land that do not contain a dwelling unit, which are associated with other Single-Family Residential parcels, in which land use is residential serving. Includes but not limited to strips of land adjacent to developed land. May include land where a building straddles multiple parcels but the units are clustered over a subset of the parcels.

1200 Multifamily Residential

Structures containing 1) vertical multifamily characteristics: dwelling units above or below another, and/or 2) horizontal multifamily characteristics: those built side-by-side, sharing ground-to-ceiling walls, but not ground-to-roof walls. Both characteristics include common facilities (e.g., lounges, community gyms, garages, plumbing, etc.). Examples include rental apartments and condominiums towers (in general, more than 12 units per acre). Some developments may include clubhouses, recreation areas, pools, tennis courts, or other amenities associated with the residential development, assuming these uses are not captured in a separate parcel polygon.

1280: Single Room Occupancy (SRO)

For-rent SROs provide small, fully furnished rooms with utilities included, and rent on daily, weekly, and monthly terms. Does not fit the definition of group quarters.

1290: Multifamily Residential Without Units

Parcels of land that do not contain a dwelling unit, which are associated with other Multifamily Residential parcels, in which land use is residential serving. Includes but not limited to strips of land adjacent to developed land. May include land where a building straddles multiple parcels but the units are clustered over a subset of the parcels.

1300 Mobile Home

Includes mobile home parks with ten or more spaces that are primarily for residential use. Recreational vehicle (RV) parks that are intended for short term use are included within the commercial recreation category.

1400: Group Quarters

Code 1400 is a category placeholder only and should not be assigned to any parcel. There are two types of group quarters living accommodations: Institutional (such as correctional facilities, nursing homes, or mental hospitals) and Non-institutional (such as college dormitories, military barracks, group homes, missions, or shelters).

1401: Jail/Prison

Detention facility grounds. Must be counted toward the prisoner group quarters population.

1402: Dormitory

School-associated group living accommodations. Must be counted toward the total student housing for the school. Private housing targeted to students is not considered a dormitory.

1403: Military Barracks

Group living accommodations for military personnel. Does not include family or apartment-style housing located on base.

1404: Monastery

Religious facility with group quarters populations.

1409: Other Group Quarters Facility

Convalescent or retirement homes not associated with or within a health care facility, fraternities/sororities, rooming houses, half-way houses, California Conservation Corps, Honor Camps, and other correctional facilities.

1500: Hotel/Motel/Resort

Code 1500 is a category placeholder only.

1501: Hotel/Motel (Low-Rise)

Hotels, motels, and other transient accommodations with less than four floors. Commonly found along freeways and prime commercial areas.

1502: Hotel/Motel (High-Rise)

Hotels and motels that have more than four floors. Primarily found in downtown areas and near tourist attractions.

1503: Resort

Resorts with hotel accommodations that usually contain recreation areas. Examples of resorts would be La Costa Health Spa, Lawrence Welk, and the Olympic Resort in Carlsbad near the airport.

2000: Heavy Industry

Code 2000 is a category placeholder only. 

2001: Heavy Industry

Shipbuilding, airframe, and aircraft manufacturing. Usually located close to transportation facilities and commercial areas. Parcels are typically large, 20-50 acres.

2100: Light Industry

Code 2100 is a category placeholder only. 

2101: Industrial Park

Structures that include one or more types of office or light-industrial uses. Examples include bio-technology parks, laboratory spaces, and trading and manufacturing companies. The primary uses are industrial, but may include other uses in service or retail activities.

2103: Light Industry—General

Light-industrial uses, including lumber manufacturing, furniture-making, paper-making, rubber manufacturing, stone and clay manufacturing, glassmaking, as well as auto repair services and recycling centers. These are not located inside industrial parks, but are single-service structures. Light Industry uses are usually along major streets or clustered in certain areas. Affiliated commercial and office uses may also be included.

2104: Warehousing

Structures for storing commercial or industrial goods. These typically have loading docks for freight movement. Usually large buildings located near freeways, industrial areas, or on the outskirts of cities.

2105: Public Storage

Public self-storage buildings. These are typically long, rectangular, and closely spaced.

2200: Extractive Industry

Code 2200 is a category placeholder only.

2201: Extractive Industry

Any activity that extracts resources from nature. Examples include mining, sand and gravel extraction, salt evaporation.

2300: Junkyards/Dumps/Landfills

Code 2300 is a category placeholder only.

2301: Junkyard/Dump/Landfill

Sites for the disposal of waste materials, excluding recycling centers. Activity should be discernable on a given site. Also include auto wrecking and dismantling.

4100: Airports

Code 4100 is a category placeholder only.

4101: Commercial Airport

The San Diego International Airport.

4102: Military Airport

Airports owned and operated by the military. Found on military bases.

4103: General Aviation Airport

All general aviation airports.

4104: Airstrip

Consists only of a runway. Generally in remote locations.

4110: Other Transportation

Code 4110 is a category placeholder only.

4111: Rail Station/Transit Center

Major transit centers (e.g., Oceanside Transit Center, El Cajon Transit Center), rail stations (e.g., Santa Fe Depot, Solana Beach Station), COASTER stations (Oceanside, Carlsbad Village, Carlsbad Poinsettia, Encinitas, Solana Beach, Sorrento Valley, Old Town, San Diego), MTS Trolley stations, and seaport terminals (Port of San Diego). Parking areas associated with these uses are included. Transit centers within shopping centers are included within the shopping center category.

4112: Freeway

Divided roadways with four or more lanes, restricted access, grade separations, and rights of way greater than 200 ft. wide. Includes all right-of-way and interchange areas, but not frontage roads.

4113: Communications and Utilities

Television and radio broadcasting stations, relay towers, electrical power generating plants, water and sewage treatment facilities, and large public water supply storage tanks.

4114: Parking Lot—Surface

All surface parking lots not associated with another land use. Excludes Park and Ride Lots.

4115: Parking Lot—Structure

All large parking structure not associated with another land use.

4116: Park & Ride Lot

Incentive parking areas that are not associated with another land use.

4117: Railroad Right-of-Way (ROW)

All railroad ROWs. Rail infrastructure may or may not  be present.

4118: Road Right-of-Way (ROW)

All street ROWs. Streets may or may not be present.

4119: Other Transportation

Maintenance yards and their associated activities, transit yards, and walking bridges.

4120: Marine Terminal

The National City and 10th Street (Centre City) marine terminals.

5000: Commercial

Code 5000 is a category placeholder only.

5001: Wholesale Trade

Structures are typically large and cover the majority of the parcel. Examples include the sale of goods or merchandise to industrial or commercial retailers. Also includes swap meet areas. Usually located near transportation facilities.

5002: Regional Shopping Center

Complex with 50 or more tenants, including one to five major department stores. These centers are typically larger than 40 acres in size. Examples include large commercial shopping malls, such as the UTC Mall.

5003: Community Shopping Center

Smaller in size than the regional shopping centers. Contain a junior department store or variety store (i.e., a Target Center with other commercial stores) as a major tenant and have 15 to 50 other tenants. Smaller in size, 8 to 20 acres. May also have a variety store (i.e., Target, Home Depot, or Price/Costco) by itself.

5004: Neighborhood Shopping Center

Usually less than ten acres in size with on-site parking. Includes supermarket and drug store centers not identified as community commercial. May include office uses that are not large enough to code separately. Neighborhood centers with over 100,000 sq. ft. are inventoried by the Chamber of Commerce, and The Union Tribune (Copley) also collects data on neighborhood centers.

5005: Specialty Commercial

Tourist or specialty commercial shopping areas, such as Seaport Village, Marina Village, Ferry Landing at Coronado, Bazaar del Mundo, Flower Hill, Glasshouse Square, The Lumberyard, Park Plaza at the Village, Promenade, Belmont Park, and Del Mar Plaza.

5006: Automobile Dealership

Commercial sale of new or used cars. Includes National City’s Mile of Cars and Carlsbad’s Car Country, among others.

5007: Arterial Commercial

Includes commercial activities found along major streets (not in planned centers). Examples include art shops, antique shops, restaurants, stand-alone clothing stores (not “big box” stores), cafes, bakeries, business and professional services (e.g., print shops, private shipping companies like UPS or FedEx), and variety stores. May include secondary office uses or single-family residential uses (i.e., second-floor/adjoined home). On-site parking is often limited.

5008: Service Station

Includes gasoline service stations and associated convenience store on stand-alone parcels where it is the primary use.

5009: Other Retail Trade and Strip Commercial

Other retail land uses not classified above.

6000: Office

Code 6000 is a category placeholder only. 

6001: Office—High-Rise

High-rise buildings with five or more stories. May contain banks, offices for business and professional services (finance, insurance, real estate), some retail activities, and restaurants.

6002: Office—Low-Rise

Low-rise buildings with less than five stories. May contain banks, offices for business and professional services (finance, insurance, real estate), some retail activities, and restaurants.

6003: Government Office/Civic Center

Large government office buildings or centers (outside of military reservations). Examples include civic centers and city halls of local governments. Also includes the Chamber of Commerce buildings and DMV offices.

6100: Public Services

Code 6100 is a category placeholder only.

6101: Cemetery

Spaces where the primary use of the land is to contain the remains of the dead. Includes stand-alone cemeteries or gravesites, burial grounds, and memorials. Does not include instances where a single parcel both contains religious facilities and a cemetery. 

6102: Religious Facility

Places where people gather for religious activities, such as worship, ceremonies, and religious education. Examples include temples, church, mosques, or synagogues. May include dwelling units, for instance, if there is an affiliated house on site.

6103: Library

Structures that contain book collections, along with other media, that is accessible for use by the public or affiliated groups (e.g., university students). Includes public libraries and university libraries.

6104: Post Office

Public facilities that are operated by the United States Postal Service and provide mail services.

6105: Fire/Police Station

Structures that accommodate firefighters, police officers, other related personnel, and vehicles.

6108: Mission

Historic religious facilities. Includes Mission San Luis Rey de Francia and Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá.

6109: Other Public Services

Cultural facilities, museums, art galleries, social service agencies, humane societies, historic sites, and observatories.

6500: Hospitals

Code 6500 is a category placeholder only.

6501: UCSD/VA Hospital/Balboa Hospital

Specialized regional hospital campuses.

6502: Hospital—General

Hospitals not included above. Typically large structures or complexes that include beds for intensive and/or long-term care, emergency departments, and specialist care. Includes public, non-profit, and privately funded facilities. 

6509: Other Health Care

Medical centers and office buildings, health care services, and other health care facilities. Smaller medical offices and facilities may be included within office, strip commercial, or other surrounding uses.

6700: Military Use

Code 6700 is a category placeholder only.

6701: Military Use

Defense installations, operational facilities, maintenance facilities (non-weapons), research and development, supply and storage (non-weapons), community support facilities and any military use that does not fall in other categories.

6702: Military Training

Academic, operational- and combat-training facilities, training ranges, and special purpose training ranges.

6703: Weapons Facility

Weapons assembly, maintenance, and storage facilities.

6800: Schools

Code 6800 is a category placeholder only.

6801: Public Universities—Institutional

Administrative buildings, classrooms, university research facilities, lecture halls, school-operated dining halls, or a combination of institutional uses. Typically located on a public campus. Examples include Pacific Hall at UCSD, Hostler Hall at SDSU, and Markstein Hall at Cal State San Marcos.

6802: Private University or College

Privately owned universities or colleges. Examples include University of San Diego and Point Loma Nazarene University.

6803: Junior College

Includes community colleges and vocational schools.

6804: High School

School that provides upper secondary education (often grades 9-12). Typically separate from lower secondary educational institutions (middle schools); however, they are sometimes located on the same parcel.

6805: Middle School

School that provides lower secondary education (often grades 6-8). Typically separate from primary educational institutions (elementary schools) and upper secondary educational institutions (high schools); however, they are sometimes located on the same parcel.

6806: Elementary School

School that provides primary education (often grades 1-5). Typically separate from secondary educational institutions (middle and high schools); however, they are sometimes located on the same parcel.

6807: School District Office

Offices that manage a school district’s operations.

6809: Other School

Includes preschools, adult schools, non-residential day care, and nursery schools.

7200: Commercial Recreation

Code 7200 is a category placeholder only.

7201: Tourist Attraction

Sea World, Zoo, Safari, and Legoland.

7202: Stadium/Arena

Sports arenas for professional and collegiate teams.

7203: Racetrack

Del Mar Racetrack and the San Luis Rey Downs.

7204: Golf Course

Public and private golf courses.

7205: Golf Course Clubhouse

Clubhouses, swimming and tennis facilities, and parking lots associated with the golf course.

7206: Convention Center

Largescale meeting facilities without accommodations. Examples include Centre City and Embarcadero. Some hotels offer convention spaces; however, these instances are designated as hotels, given their primary land use. 

7207: Marina

Includes marinas such as Oceanside Harbor, Quivira Basin, Shelter Island, Harbor Island, Embarcadero, and Chula Vista Marina.

7208: Olympic Training Center

The Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista.

7209: Casino

Gambling establishments, typically located on Indian Reservations. May include hotels, restaurants, retail, and other recreational uses, as well.

7210: Other Recreation—High

High intensity uses primarily in urban areas. Examples include fitness clubs, YMCA's, swim clubs, stand-alone movie theaters, drive-in theaters. Also includes tennis clubs outside of country club facilities or parks, rodeo grounds, and senior recreation centers. These differ from active parks in that there are structures with specialized recreational activities.

7211: Other Recreation—Low

Campgrounds, camps, and other low intensity recreation. Includes public and private primitive and developed camping areas for tents and RVs.

7600: Parks

Code 7600 is a category placeholder only.

7601: Park—Active

Outdoor natural spaces, ball fields, and indoor athletic spaces (or a combination of all three) that are used for recreational purposes, such as walking, playing sports, or picnicking. Examples include playgrounds, soccer fields, basketball courts (both indoor and outdoor), leisurely walking trails (not hiking trails), and open green spaces. Typically owned by local government, but can be privately owned. Can be large, such as Balboa Park, or small, neighborhood parks.

7603: Open Space Park or Preserve

Wildlife and nature preserves, lands set aside for open space, and parks with limited access and development. Examples are Torrey Pines State Reserve, Peñasquitos Canyon Reserve, and San Elijo Ecological Preserve. Includes state parks with hiking facilities.

7604: Beach—Active

Accessible sandy areas along the coast or major water bodies (San Diego and Mission Bay) allowing swimming, picnicking, and other beach-related recreational activities.

7605: Beach—Passive

Other sandy areas along the coastline with limited parking and access (e.g., beaches along cliffs, or near preserves).

7606: Landscape Open Space

Maintained landscaped areas not intended for active use, such as greenbelt areas and hillsides with planted vegetation (trees/shrubs), among others.

7607: Residential Recreation

Active neighborhood parks that are for residents’ use only. Examples include fenced-in areas with pools, tennis and basketball courts, barbecues, and community meeting rooms.

7609: Undevelopable Natural Area

Planned land use only—Undevelopable natural areas that are not part of an established open space park or preserve. Examples are Cleveland National Forest and open space easements around developments.

8000: Agriculture

Code 8000 is a category placeholder only.

8001: Orchard or Vineyard

Fruit plantations, grown mainly for food production. Examples include avocado farms, citrus orchards, an grape-bearing vines. May include residential dwelling units if the primary use of the land is agricultural in nature (e.g., a large vineyard with a single house).

8002: Intensive Agriculture

Agricultural uses that yield significant output. These are typically commercial, largescale operations. Examples include nurseries, greenhouses, flower fields, dairies, livestock, poultry, equine ranches, row crops, and grains.

8003: Other Agriculture

Agricultural uses other than orchards/vineyards and intensive agriculture. Usually smaller, privately owned agricultural uses. Also includes pasture and fallow land.

9100: Vacant and Undeveloped Land

Code 9100 is a category placeholder only. 

9101: Undeveloped Land

Developable land that remains in its natural state without any buildings, railroads, roads, utilities, or other infrastructure. Existing land use only.

9200: Water                                                      

9201: Bay or Lagoon

Large bodies of saltwater or brackish water, such as Mission Bay or San Dieguito Lagoon.

9202: Lake/Reservoir/Large Pond Inland, freshwater bodies of water that vary in size.

9300: Tribal Land

Planned land use only. Substitute land use for tribal lands used in forecasting efforts.

9400: Public/Semi Public

Planned land use only. Substitute for public lands used in forecasting efforts.

9500: Under Construction

Code 9500 is a category placeholder only.

9501: Residential Under Construction

Land undergoing development for primarily residential purposes. No dwelling units are present.

9502: Commercial Under Construction

Land undergoing development for primarily commercial purposes. Not operational.

9503: Industrial Under Construction

Land undergoing development for primarily industrial purposes. Not operational.

9504: Office Under Construction

Land undergoing development for primarily office-related purposes. Not operational.

9505: School Under Construction

Land undergoing development for primarily scholastic purposes. Not operational.

9506: Road Under Construction

Land with a road under construction. Not operational.

9507: Freeway Under Construction

Land with a freeway under construction. Not operational.

9508: Railroad Under Construction

Land with a railroad under construction. Not operational.

9509: Transit Under Construction

Land with a transit station or transit center under construction. Not operational.

9600: Specific Plan Area

Planned land use only. Substitute land use for scheduled developments used in forecasting efforts.

9700: Mixed Use

Planned land use only. Code 9700 is a substitute for specific, descriptive mixed-use land uses below.

9701: Mixed Use Residential Commercial

Structure with a combination of multi-family residential and commercial uses. Examples include low-rise buildings with ground-floor commercial uses and apartments above (not the same as arterial commercial with a single-family unit or units), as well as 5-over-1s, large apartment buildings, or condominiums with ground-floor commercial activity. Mixed-use activities must occur in the same structure.

9702: Mixed Use Residential Office

Structure with a combination of multi-family residential and office uses. Examples include low-rise office buildings with ground-floor office uses and apartments above, as well as large apartment buildings or condominiums with additional, significant office uses. Mixed-use activities must occur in the same structure.

9703: Mixed Use Multiuse

Structure with a combination of commercial, multi-family residential, and office uses. Quaternary land uses may appear in this structure type; however, these cases are infrequent. Often high-rise towers in dense urban cores, such as Downtown San Diego.