Overview
Code type
hybrid two map
Naming convention
form-based-development-pattern + euclidean-zoning-district (paired)
| use_districts | letter-numeric (R-E, R-1, R-2, R-3, R-4 residential; O office; NB neighborhood-business; B business; BP business-park; CC, IS — see §1135.01.1 Table 35.1) |
|---|---|
| form_districts | letter-code Development Pattern Districts (E, N, V, VH, S, SS, SB, SC, NC, TC, LI, I, H — see §1133.01.B and §1141.02–§1141.14) |
Kettering's zoning is structured as TWO PAIRED CLASSIFICATIONS: every property has BOTH (a) a 'Zoning District' (R-E/R-1/.../IS — regulates use and minimum lot area/frontage per §1135.01.1 Table 35.1) AND (b) a 'Development Pattern District' (E/N/V/VH/S/SS/SB/SC/NC/TC/LI/I/H — regulates form: setbacks, building height, frontage occupancy, exterior finishes per Chapter 1141). A property is referenced as e.g. 'R-2 N' (R-2 zoning, Neighborhood pattern). The v1 profile incorrectly modeled R-1 through R-5 plus C-1/C-2/C-3 plus I-1/I-2 as the entire system, mixing the use-district and form-district models and inventing districts (R-5, C-3, I-2) that do not exist in the April 2025 code. This v2 captures the 13 Development Pattern Districts as primary district records (because they carry the dimensional standards per §1141) and uses the supplementary 'use_districts' field on each Pattern District record to note the cross-classification.
Districts
res_sf 2res_mf 2mixed 2ind 2office 1com_mixed 1ind_light_office 1com 1civic 1
| Code | Name | Category | Min lot | Height | Coverage | FAR | Du/ac | Parking | Setbacks F/S/R |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E | Estate | res_sf | 20,000 sf | 30 ft | — | — | — | — | 35 / 15 / 50 |
| N | Neighborhood | res_sf | 7,500 sf | 30 ft | — | — | — | — | 25 / 8 / 30 |
| V | Village | res_mf | 2,100 sf | 40 ft | — | — | — | — | 25 / 6 / 30 |
| VH | Village Heights | res_mf | — | 132 ft | — | — | — | — | 50 / 25 / 50 |
| S | Suburban | office | 10,000 sf | 45 ft | — | — | — | — | 25 / 10 / 15 |
| SS | Suburban Service | com_mixed | 0 sf | 40 ft | — | — | — | — | — / 6 / 15 |
| SB | Suburban Business | ind_light_office | 0 sf | — | — | — | — | — | 25 / 10 / 15 |
| SC | Suburban Center | com | — | 50 ft | — | — | — | — | 25 / 10 / 15 |
| NC | Neighborhood Center | mixed | — | 50 ft | — | — | — | — | — / 0 / 15 |
| TC | Town Center | mixed | — | 80 ft | — | — | — | — | — / 0 / 15 |
| LI | Light Industry | ind | — | 45 ft | — | — | — | — | 25 / 0 / 15 |
| I | Industry | ind | — | — | — | — | — | — | 25 / 0 / — |
| H | Hospital | civic | — | — | — | — | — | — | — / — / — |
Confidence: confirmed partial under review not found
Overlays
FP
Floodplain Overlay (Flood Damage Prevention)
FPH-SUB
Hospital Development Pattern Sub-District Areas
SPDState preemptions
OH-CONST-ART-XVIIIapplies
Qualifying condition
Kettering is a charter municipal corporation (Charter ratified 1955, last amended 2018; per ketteringoh.org/city-of-kettering-charter/). Ohio Constitution Article XVIII §§3, 7 grants 'all powers of local self-government' to municipalities. Charter cities like Kettering have the broadest home-rule authority.
Effect
Kettering retains broad home-rule authority over local zoning. State preemption is narrow: Type B family child care homes (§5104.054), federal manufactured-home construction standards (§3781.184), procedural floor where applicable.
OH-713-CH-ENABLINGapplies
Qualifying condition
Kettering is a CHARTER city, so ORC Chapter 713 procedural enabling applies as a baseline. Charter cities may adopt their own zoning procedure under Art. XVIII home-rule, but §713.15 nonconforming-use floor still applies. Kettering's Planning Commission and BZA are established under Charter and §1131.07 of the Zoning Code.
Effect
Procedural baseline: Chapter 713 supplies a floor where Kettering's charter and Zoning Code do not provide alternative procedure. §713.15 2-year nonconforming discontinuance floor applies.
OH-5104.054applies
Qualifying condition
ORC §5104.054 (HB 33, effective 2025-01-01) applies uniformly to municipalities. Type B family child care homes (1–6 children in caregiver's residence) must be permitted as-of-right in any district allowing residential use; no conditional use permit may be required.
Effect
Any Kettering Zoning Code provision requiring conditional use permits or special exceptions for Type B family child care homes in residential Pattern Districts (E, N, V, VH) is unenforceable as of 2025-01-01.
OH-3781.184applies
Qualifying condition
All Ohio jurisdictions. 42 U.S.C. §5415 / National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act federal construction standards are exclusive in Ohio per ORC §3781.184. Municipal corporations are NOT bound by §519.212 township/county placement preemption.
Effect
Kettering may not impose construction standards conflicting with federal HUD standards on manufactured homes; Kettering retains zoning discretion over WHERE permanently sited manufactured homes may locate.
Non-applicable laws (1)
OH-SB-104-STRnot_applicable
Qualifying condition
Ohio SB 104 (136th GA) and HB 109 (companion) STR preemption bills are PENDING in committee and NOT enacted as of April 2026.
Effect
None currently. STR regulation remains fully local in Ohio; Kettering retains full zoning authority over short-term rentals.
Adopted building codes
Statewide
Click a code label to open its state-by-state adoption atlas.
Quirks & notes
Formulas
Definitions
- height
- Distance from grade to highest point of the principal structure per §1141.01.6 Figure 41.4 - Measuring Height (full text not extracted; convention is grade-to-roofline)
- lot_coverage
- Building footprint divided by lot area; expressed as percent (per §1141.14.7 for Hospital sub-districts; not centrally defined for other Pattern Districts in Chapter 1141)
- far
- FAR is not a primary control in Kettering's Pattern Districts; height + setback + frontage occupancy carry the dimensional regulation
- du_ac
- Density is regulated indirectly via Zoning District minimum lot area per dwelling unit in §1135.01.1 Table 35.1 (e.g. R-3 multi-unit: 3,600 sf per dwelling unit; R-4 multi-unit: 2,100 sf per dwelling unit with 10,000 sf min site)
- setback_front
- Front property line to nearest building face — per per-district table in §1141.0X (E/N/V/VH/S/SS/SB/SC/NC/TC/LI/I)
- setback_side
- Side property line to nearest building face
- setback_rear
- Rear property line to nearest building face
- parking
- Off-street parking ratios per §1145.03.2 Table 45.1 (1 per dwelling unit residential; 0.8 per bedroom lodging; 3 per 1,000 sf GFA office; 4 per 1,000 sf GFA commercial; 12 per 1,000 sf GFA restaurant); reductions 15–40% in NC and TC pattern districts
Capacity calculations
- max_footprint_sf
lot_area_sf * lot_coverage (only directly applicable in Hospital sub-districts and R-4 multi-unit context)- buildable_width_ft
lot_width_ft - setback_side_ft * 2- buildable_depth_ft
lot_depth_ft - setback_front_ft - setback_rear_ft- max_units_from_density
lot_area_sf / min_lot_sf_per_du (use Zoning District value from §1135.01.1)
Massing explorer
Interactive 3D comparison across every district. Drag to orbit, scroll to zoom, use the slider to walk districts, and toggle applicable overlays in the right-side panel.
Sort by
Max height
— ft
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Floor area ratio
—
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Lot coverage
—%
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Setbacks (F / S / R)
— ft
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Parking
— /unit
——
Max density
— du/ac
——
Min lot size
— sf
——
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| District | Category | Height | FAR | Coverage | Setbacks | Parking | Density | Min lot | Overlays |
|---|
Research status
Publication gates
| primary url present | passed | code_source is the direct URL to the Official City of Kettering Zoning Code April 2025 PDF (storage.googleapis.com/proudcity/ketteringoh — city-owned ProudCity-platform CDN bucket). code_source_official_city_page is the city's Codified Ordinances index at ketteringoh.org/codified-ordinances/ which references the same document. Both are primary sources. |
|---|---|---|
| no aggregator cited | passed | All citations point to primary sources: Kettering city PDF (storage.googleapis.com/proudcity/ketteringoh), city portal (ketteringoh.org), Ohio Revised Code, Ohio Constitution, NFIP/44 CFR. No Zoneomics, Steadily, SitePlanCreator, Propwire, or other aggregators cited. Search results that surfaced Zoneomics were explicitly excluded. |
| confidence tags full form | passed | All district standards use the full-form status object {v, status, citation} or {status, search_performed, citation} for not_found. All overlays carry status, citation, parameters, ordinance_ref, and geographic_trigger. confirmed citations use c§<section> form pointing to specific Tables 41.1–41.13 and 35.1, and 45.1, plus Chapter 1104 §325. |
| overlays have parameters trigger confidence | passed | Both overlay entries (FP Floodplain, H-SUB Hospital Sub-Districts) include ordinance_ref, geographic_trigger, parameters[], interaction_with_base, and status=confirmed with c§ citations. v1's fabricated HD and NCO overlays were removed and documented in quirks as supersession. |
| preempt section city specific | passed | state_preemptions_applicable contains 5 Ohio-specific rows (Art. XVIII home rule, Chapter 713 enabling, §5104.054 Type B child care, §3781.184 manufactured housing federal preemption, SB 104 STR pending=not_applicable). Each row carries qualifying_condition_checked specific to Kettering (charter status, municipal corporation, residential pattern districts E/N/V/VH affected by §5104.054). v1 pointed state_preemptions to 'state-preemptions/no-preemption.md' which was WRONG; v2 retains pointer-to-state-file but adds the city-specific applicability rows. |
Data quality
71%completeness97 confirmed5 partial36 not found
Documented gaps
- Lot coverage values for non-Hospital Pattern Districts — the code does not regulate this in Chapter 1141 outside Hospital sub-districts; populating would require inferring from FAR-equivalent or building-coverage in narrative review (not done)
- FAR for any district — the code does not use FAR as a control
- du/ac — the code uses min-lot-area-per-DU in §1135.01.1 instead
- Hospital Pattern District (H) generic side and rear setbacks — the sub-area framework specifies setbacks from rights-of-way and from residential districts but not generic side/rear yards; modeled as 'partial'
- VH (Village Heights) min lot area — defers to paired R-4 zoning district 2,100 sf/du; recorded as partial
Verification
| last_verified_at | 2026-04-24T00:00:00Z |
|---|---|
| verifier_specialist | single-pass-research |
| verifier_version | 1.0 |
| verification_result | passed |
| atomic_claims_checked | 24 |
| atomic_claims_passed | 22 |
| atomic_claims_failed | 0 |
| atomic_claims_not_retrievable | 2 |
| notes | Verification path: (1) Source identity confirmed — Official City of Kettering Zoning Code April 2025 is the canonical document, hosted on storage.googleapis.com/proudcity (city-owned ProudCity-platform asset bucket); the city portal at ketteringoh.org/codified-ordinances/ links to it directly. (2) Two-classification system confirmed via §1133.01.A and §1133.01.B side-by-side. (3) All 13 Pattern District setback/height tables (Tables 41.1–41.13) read from the PDF via pdftotext -layout extraction. (4) Table 35.1 minimum lot area schedule read for use-district context. (5) Table 45.1 parking ratios read. (6) Chapter 1104 Flood Damage Prevention separately fetched and confirmed for FPE = BFE + 1.0 ft. (7) Codified Ordinances index checked — no Historic Preservation chapter or AICUZ chapter present. (8) Hospital sub-district setbacks/heights/lot-coverage confirmed in §1141.14.5–.7. Two atomic claims not_retrievable: (a) lot-coverage values for non-Hospital Pattern Districts (the code does not regulate lot coverage outside Hospital sub-districts and a few exception cases), and (b) FAR (the code does not use FAR as a control). Both 'not_retrievable' is a structural finding, not a research gap. |
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