Why Zoning Comes First in Commercial Development
Every strong commercial deal starts with entitlement reality. Before you model rents, construction budgets, or returns, you need to confirm what the zoning code actually allows on the dirt you are considering. Zoning controls use, intensity, height, setbacks, parking, signage, landscaping, and often design. The map and the text tell you what can be built by right, what requires extra approvals, and what will never fly on that parcel. In Memphis and Little Rock, those differences influence timelines, capital at risk, and ultimately whether your concept can open when your partners expect it to. That’s why our brokerage and development teams treat zoning due diligence as a day-zero task, right alongside title, utilities, and access.
For multi-tenant retail, medical office, industrial flex, or single-tenant pad sites, the first pass is simple. Identify the base zoning district, confirm the use table, and list the dimensional standards. The second pass is deeper. Look for overlays, planned districts, corridor or neighborhood plans, floodplain and drainage constraints, and any adopted design guidelines. Together, those layers determine how your site plan will live on the ground.
Translate Zoning Text into a Site Strategy
Reading a zoning code is not the same as designing a site that passes staff review. A good entitlement strategy connects the code to your pro forma. Start by mapping the buildable envelope against your parking and loading needs. A restaurant or drive-thru pad requires a higher parking ratio and stacking lanes. In contrast, a medical tenant needs accessible parking close to the door, while an industrial user needs turning radii and dock positions that accommodate deliveries without blocking fire access. Parking maximums are becoming common in many places, so right-sizing stalls and counting shared parking credits can free up gross leasable area without triggering variances. Thoughtful placement of dumpsters, transformers, and grease traps avoids late-stage redesigns that frustrate both your contractor and the review team.
The same approach applies to signage, lighting, landscaping, and screening. Codes often treat corner parcels, visibility corridors, and residential adjacency differently from interior commercial lots. A plan that anticipates those rules keeps you on offense during technical review instead of reacting to redlines with costly changes.
Entitlements: By-Right, Conditional Use, and Variances
Commercial concepts land in three buckets. Some are by-right and proceed with site plan and building permits. Others are allowed only as special or conditional uses, which means you will need a staff recommendation and a public hearing. A third group requires variances to dimensional standards or, in some cases, a rezoning to a different district. Your schedule depends on which bucket you are in. By-right projects move fastest. Conditional uses add public notice and hearing dates. Variances and rezonings add uncertainty, since they turn on findings of hardship, compatibility, or consistency with the comprehensive plan.
A practical rule helps teams stay honest. If your plan needs more than one or two variances, you may be trying to force a use or a format that the district never intended. In that case, resizing the building, re-orienting access, or exploring a different district can save months. If a conditional use is required, build a short, evidence-based case that speaks the city’s language. Show compatibility, traffic management, hours of operation, and noise control. Bring letters of support from neighbors who understand what you are building. Those steps make a measurable difference at the hearing table.
Overlay Districts, PUDs, and Design Review
Overlays and planned districts can help or hinder a deal. An overlay sets additional standards on top of the base zoning, often to protect corridors, historic areas, or special districts. A PUD or planned development can offer flexibility in exchange for a coordinated plan. In practice, that means you may gain room to cluster buildings, adjust setbacks, or trade standards, but you also accept a higher level of design control and a more detailed approval package. Many commercial corridors also require design review board sign-off. Treat design review as part of entitlements rather than an afterthought. Clear elevations, material callouts, screening details, and a sign concept plan reassure reviewers that the finished project will match what you promised.
Access, Parking, and Loading that Work in the Real World
Traffic and access can sink a commercial plan that looks perfect on paper. Coordinate early with transportation staff and the fire marshall on drive locations, throat lengths, turning movements, and fire apparatus access. Right-in, right-out conditions change tenant mixes and drive-thru feasibility. Shared access easements and cross-parking agreements often unlock better site circulation and can reduce the number of variances you need. For last-mile or warehouse users, confirm that truck routes, noise standards, and delivery windows align with neighborhood expectations so you can secure approvals without friction.
Two details that save weeks later
- Put loading and refuse in places that staff can approve without exceptions, then design screening that meets code height and opacity.
- Validate ADA routes from every accessible stall to each tenant entry, since these paths touch grades, landings, and door conditions that are costly to change late.
Environmental and Utility Checkpoints
Zoning interacts with stormwater, floodplain, and utility standards. Commercial sites in both Memphis and Little Rock will be reviewed for drainage capacity, detention or retention, and water quality measures that match the drainage basin. Public works and utility providers will look for service capacity and connection points. If your concept adds significant trips, expect a traffic statement or study. If your site is near sensitive areas or within an overlay, anticipate additional landscape or tree preservation requirements. A tight submittal that balances these layers reduces review cycles and carries weight with staff.
Community Engagement and Public Hearings
For conditional uses, variances, and rezonings, public engagement is not just a box to check. Notices and neighborhood meetings give you a chance to address concerns before they become talking points at the hearing. A short, honest presentation that explains hours, deliveries, lighting, security, and screening goes a long way. Bring visuals that non-technical audiences can read. Summarize measurable benefits, such as jobs, reinvestment in a tired center, or activation of a long-vacant pad. The planning commission will ask whether the project matches the comprehensive plan and the district’s purpose. Your job is to show that it does, and to document how.
For a neutral primer on zoning concepts, overlays, and the role of codes in shaping development, see the American Planning Association overview of zoning basics. It is a helpful resource to share with partners who are new to entitlements.
Timelines, Risk, and Deal Structuring
Entitlements shape deal terms. If your use is by right, you can move with aggressive closing timelines. If you need a conditional use or a variance, you will want escrow periods long enough to cover submittal windows, staff review, public notice, and hearing dates. If a rezoning is required, build in extensions tied to milestones, such as application acceptance, staff recommendation, and planning commission action. Hard money dates should track real city calendars, not best-case guesses. Pair schedules with clear approval exhibits so there is no confusion about what was entitled when you reach financing.
Lenders care about entitlement certainty. A staff recommendation and a clean hearing record reduce risk. Recorded cross-access agreements, finalized utility will-serve letters, and completed traffic studies do the same. Organize your deliverables so that underwriting sees a complete story rather than loose ends.
Change of Use and Repositioning Existing Assets
Much commercial work involves repositioning rather than ground-up construction. A change of use can trigger new parking counts, landscaping updates, or site improvements that older centers never had to meet. Read the nonconformity section of the code to understand what must be brought up to current standards. Many cities offer allowances for incremental upgrades during tenant improvement projects, especially when a new tenant brings jobs and activity to a long-quiet center. Plan those improvements as part of your lease or purchase negotiations so the work is funded and scheduled rather than discovered after drawings are complete.
How Jones Aur Helps You Move From Code to Certificate of Occupancy
Jones Aur is a privately owned, full-service commercial brokerage with expertly assembled teams dedicated to landlords, tenants, developers, and investors. With operations in Memphis and Little Rock, we combine granular market knowledge with entitlement strategy so your site selection reflects what the code and the calendar will allow. Our role is to flag risks early, assemble the right consultants, and help you present a plan that staff can support and decision makers can approve. That includes introductions to local stakeholders, coordination with planning and engineering staff, and realistic schedules that match hearing cycles and review workloads. Clients get the reach and horsepower of a large platform with attention that feels local and personal.
Ready to De-Risk Your Next Commercial Project?
If you are planning a new site, a pad redevelopment, or a change of use, start with an entitlement game plan. Connect with Jones Aur Commercial Real Estate to review zoning, timelines, and site strategy, then move into acquisitions or leasing with confidence.
