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Zoning and land use policy for a legacy business program.
Municipalities use zoning and land-use policy to define how buildings can be used within designated areas of the city. In commercial corridors, these policies generally outline permitted uses (e.g., commercial and industrial) and building standards (e.g., height, density, and sometimes design). The zoning and land use policies listed in this section are examples that provide additional protections, limitations, or incentives that could specifically help legacy business programs. These examples can manage neighborhood growth and development while preserving culture and community, helping your program keep legacy businesses in place and successful in the long term.
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Planning & Zoning Webcast
For examples of zoning and land use policies that can benefit a legacy business program, watch the Planning Webcast Series, Planning and Zoning Tools for Preserving Historic Communities
Zoning Overlays
Zoning overlays are a municipal planning tool that establishes additional rules and restrictions on top of existing zoning regulations in identified neighborhoods or commercial districts. Municipal governments implement and administer these overlays tailored to the neighborhoods and aligned with identified municipal goals. These goals can include curbing speculative development, preventing displacement, preserving culture, maintaining community continuity, and preserving legacy businesses. These overlays allow municipal governments to address the specific threats and needs of particular communities without amending the city's overall zoning policy.
Additional rules and restrictions for zoning overlays relevant to a legacy business program include:
Façade and Building Design
Overlays may require adherence to façade and storefront design standards and limit building alterations. They can also restrict the demolition of designated buildings or spaces and exclude the creation of large-scale commercial space.
Land Use
Overlays can require maintaining a particular mix of commercial spaces (e.g., small vs. large), prioritize certain types of businesses, and prohibit certain types of commercial usage, like chain stores (using Conditional Use Permits CUPs)
Tenant Protection
Overlays can impose requirements on tenant use, restrict evictions, require replacement of eliminated square footage, and require neighborhood relocation options for long-standing commercial tenants.
Cultural and Community Continuity
Overlays can create recognition and protection of businesses vital to the culture or community identity. They can require reviews or impact assessments related to the community.
Zoning overlays are created through municipal ordinance. This will require partnering with preservation, planning, and community development departments to identify and quantify which neighborhoods qualify for an overlay and to determine which type of overlay to use. It will also require community input and collaboration to help define the goals of the overlays. Subsequently, the overlays will need to be reviewed by the city attorney’s office or legal department before approval from voters or elected officials (e.g., the city council). Despite requiring considerable work to implement, zoning overlays can help create an effective legacy business preservation strategy. They can provide the sometimes-needed municipal check and balance to rapid market-driven development that would outlast those from a pilot legacy business program or stop-gap financial solutions like rent subsidies or grants. When not implemented thoughtfully and based on community need, they can also backfire, creating issues like rapidly rising commercial rents when zoning limitations on growth intensify competition for commercial space.
The following are examples of zoning overlays or zoning districts that closely align with the goals of legacy business programs and are in use throughout the US.
Neighborhood Stabilization Overlays
Neighborhood stabilization overlays are designed to protect the character, identity, cultural heritage, continuity, and affordability of neighborhoods, including their commercial districts. These neighborhoods tend to be traditionally underserved and/or face pressures such as rapid gentrification. These overlays work well with legacy business programs because they focus on supporting local, often culturally significant, small businesses. This is done by discouraging speculative development, hindering displacement, incentivizing long-term leases and retaining existing businesses, and requiring reviews and approvals for changes that may damage the neighborhood.
Examples include Dallas’s Neighborhood Stabilization Overlay, and Los Angeles’s Neighborhood Stabilization Overlay District.
Conservation Overlays
Conservation overlays are specialized zoning areas designed to protect the identity and feel of a neighborhood, including unique cultural, physical, or environmental elements that help define it. They are designed to maintain the neighborhood's character but may not be as restrictive as historic districts or prohibit new development so long as it conforms to that character. Their rules and restrictions guide new development or redevelopment so that they do not alter or contradict the contributing elements. This could mean limiting the demolition or scale of buildings so that smaller spaces remain available for legacy businesses.
Examples include Raleigh’s Character Preservation Overlay Districts and Milwaukee’s Neighborhood Conservation Overlay Zone
Commercial Revitalization Area
(Similar programs include Neighborhood Commercial/Business Revitalization District, Economic Development Zones, Community Improvement Districts, or Main Street Districts)
Although known by many names, these zones or districts are commonly used in US cities to designate commercial neighborhoods where municipal or state governments want to encourage economic revitalization. To do this, a boundary is established for the zone, and specialized ordinances or financial tools, such as tax abatements, tenant protections, or building and façade improvement grants or funds, are implemented. These zones may also include community enhancement programs, like improved pedestrian access, graffiti removal, or redevelopment or reuse incentives for existing structures. Generally, the goal of these zones is to retain the community character while revitalizing economic growth. Initiating new programs or leveraging existing ones like these in your municipality can directly benefit legacy business programs by providing access to funding, tax abatements, or community enhancements that improve the economic environment for legacy businesses.
Municipal examples include Detroit and Portland. Examples of states that support these districts include Missouri and Ohio.
Cultural Districts (or Heritage Districts)
Cultural districts are designated zones where municipalities deliberately focus on retaining and sustaining cultural and community-defining elements of a neighborhood. This could include legacy businesses that help to define the neighborhood. Cultural districts are usually created to preserve a neighborhood's cultural and community sense of place. This is done through policy tools such as zoning protections and financial assistance, as well as promotional tools such as branding, marketing, and tourism promotion. They can promote economic growth while also limiting the impact on long-standing businesses.
Additionally, at least 18 states have cultural district programs that provide some form of support, usually promotional, for the districts in their state. Some are run through the office of historic preservation (e.g., Virginia), others are run through arts or humanities programs (e.g., California). Virginia’s program is unique in that it is backed by the Creation of Arts and Cultural Districts state law, which allows municipal governments to define their own cultural districts and to support them with financial incentives, tax abatement programs, and specific policies, such as zoning.
Examples include Pittsburgh’s Downtown Cultural District, Austin’s Red River Cultural District, San Francisco’s Calle 24 Latino Cultural District, and Leesburg, Virginia’s Arts and Cultural District.
Historic Districts
Historic Districts are designated zones in a municipality recognized and preserved for their architectural, historical, and/or cultural significance. The goal of these districts is to preserve and protect the elements, character, and sense of place that make the district significant. Historic districts can be created at the federal or municipal level.
A National Register of Historic Places (National Register) historic district is created through a rigorous federal eligibility and nomination process overseen by the National Park Service. Having a historic district listed on the National Register is prestigious and can offer some benefits (see the Historic Preservation-Specific Economic Support section for more information). However, these districts generally offer little protection for legacy business owners, especially if they are not housed in a significant or contributing building within the district.
Municipal or local historic districts can be created through a local ordinance that defines the area and determines the significance to local history (see Preservation Policy section for more information). While these districts may include supervision from a local historic preservation commission and management from the city’s office of historic preservation, they are not required to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This allows them to offer greater flexibility, focused protection, and localized control, making the inclusion of legacy businesses more feasible and offering greater preservation benefits.
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Understanding Histroic Discticts
The Historic Preservation Division of the State of Georgia provides a helpful resource for more clarity: “Difference Between a National Register Historic District and a Local Historic District.”
Local historic districts can offer important protections and benefits for legacy businesses. They can prevent speculative development and demolition, preserving the space for legacy businesses. They can also help economic growth within the community. However, because their ordinances and policies generally focus on the built environment, historic districts offer fewer benefits to legacy business owners than other zoning and land use tools.
Examples of local historic districts include Los Angeles’s Local Historic Districts (HPOZs), St. Louis’s City Historic Districts, and Salt Lake City’s Local Historic Districts.
Conditional Use Permits (CUPs)
Conditional Use Permits (CUPs) are municipal planning tools used to review and approve commercial property use based on its fit within the community. They can be created to limit new businesses or changes in commercial property use that would negatively impact a neighborhood's community character and cultural continuity. This is done by the municipality setting limitations on usage, façade/building design, hours of operation, or even the displacement of existing businesses.
Adopting CUPs as a legacy business preservation tool requires updating or creating zoning regulations that outline the review process, define the requirements or limitations for commercial use, and delineate the areas where CUPs are permitted. This will require you to first partner with the municipal planning department, then work with the city attorney’s office or legal department to draft updated or new zoning regulations. These typically require public input and approval from a planning commission or city council. Before starting the process, be sure that you define the goals for using CUPs, along with their proposed benefits and long-term impact.
CUPs are currently used in several US cities, including Boston, Los Angeles, and Seattle, to preserve historically or culturally significant commercial districts. Using CUPs as part of or in conjunction with a legacy business program discourages speculative development by adding a review step that prevents the displacement or disruption of legacy businesses.
Some CUPs work in conjunction with Formula Business Ordinances, which define and restrict the number of formula or “chain” businesses allowed in neighborhoods.
Case in Point: San Francisco’s Formula Retail Policy, adopted by voters in 2007, requires the conditional use review and authorization for all chain retail or commercial businesses within the defined “neighborhood commercial districts” of the city. The policy was enacted to protect San Francisco’s vibrant small businesses, many of which are legacy businesses, in historic and culturally significant commercial districts.
Formula Retail Policy | San Francisco, California
San Francisco’s Formula Retail Policy, adopted by voters in 2007, requires the conditional use review and authorization for all chain retail or commercial businesses within the defined “neighborhood commercial districts” of the city. The policy was enacted to protect San Francisco’s vibrant small businesses, many of which are legacy businesses, in historic and culturally significant commercial districts.
Case in point.
TDRs in San Francisco
San Francisco Planning uses TDRs as “an effective planning tool for redirecting development away from historic properties.” Their TDR planning code allows for the transfer of unused development rights from “significant and contributory” buildings to specific, rapidly developing downtown neighborhoods.
Case in point.
Adaptive Reuse Policy
Adaptive reuse policy comes in many forms. Some cities, like Los Angeles, make it a part of their zoning code. Other cities, like San Francisco, make it part of their historic preservation ordinances. Still others provide financial benefits for adaptive reuse as part of their revitalization or rehabilitation programs. Regardless of how it is implemented, an adaptive reuse program focuses on allowing new uses for older buildings by relaxing or removing zoning and development barriers. Adaptive reuse programs are intended to stabilize older commercial corridors and retain small or legacy businesses by enabling and incentivizing the reuse of vacant or underused buildings, often for purposes other than their original use. For example, a legacy business could relocate to an underused or vacant building incentivized for adaptive reuse, such as the bottom floor of an old hotel, rather than be displaced by redevelopment, as they are unlikely to be able to afford commercial space in new commercial properties. These programs are used to reduce demolition and encourage revitalization in older commercial districts, retain local legacy businesses, and maintain community continuity. Many cities in the US are already using adaptive reuse programs; be sure to determine whether any relevant overlays exist in your municipality and can be leveraged to support your legacy business program.
Transfer of Development Rights (TDR)
Municipal governments implement a Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) program to preserve and protect designated areas by offering financial incentives to transfer development to areas better suited for growth. This is done by allowing a property owner in a protected area to sell any unused development space—height, square footage, or density allowed by zoning - on their land or building to another property owner in the growth area. The property owner in the protected area can realize a financial gain without having to redevelop or expand their current property. Conversely, the property owner who buys the development rights can then add them to their development. TDR programs are mainly used in municipalities with strong real estate and development markets and are not widely used in small or mid-tier cities.
TDR programs can support your legacy business program by preserving historically or culturally significant commercial corridors and keeping the buildings that house legacy businesses in place. They reduce the pressures of building redevelopment or demolition and help protect the character of a neighborhood. On their own, however, they do not provide any economic or business support to a legacy business owner unless they also own their building. To better support a legacy business program, consider tying TDR rights to property improvements or collecting (or taxing) a portion of the TDR incentives for use in a revolving fund or grant program specific to legacy businesses.
Other Zoning and Land Use Possibilities
The following zoning and land-use policy options are not currently being used with legacy business programs. They are meant to provide plausible alternatives and inspire creativity when you are working with your municipal partners to develop policy for your legacy business program.
Legacy Business Overlay Zones
Consider an overlay zone designed to preserve and protect legacy businesses. It could exist as an overlay for specific neighborhoods or be added to existing citywide zoning. This type of zoning could help protect legacy businesses from speculative redevelopment, require Conditional Use Permits (CUPs) that limit displacement by chain stores or large retail, guarantee small commercial space for legacy businesses, or include neighborhood relocation requirements for legacy businesses during redevelopment.
Commercial Conservation or Preservation Easements
With US retail vacancy around 6% and industrial vacancy around 7.5% as of mid-2025, there is a fair amount of unused commercial space. Consider creating a commercial easement program that allows building owners to donate space to your legacy business program for legacy businesses threatened with displacement or that have been displaced. In return for prolonged use of the easement space, the building owner could receive financial incentives, development rights, or tax abatement. This type of easement has already been done in historic preservation, so while challenging to implement, it is not without precedent.
Public-Owned Legacy Business Marketplace
In cities nationwide, municipal governments own unused buildings or commercial spaces. What if these spaces were made available as legacy business marketplaces, offering commercial space at controlled rates to threatened or displaced legacy businesses? While relocating legacy businesses outside their neighborhoods is not ideal, it could offer the businesses a chance to relocate and a unique shopping experience for customers.