Albuquerque’s zoning code, the Integrated Development Ordinance (IDO) is updated every other year. City Council’s Land Use Planning and Zoning (LUPZ) Committee will consider updates in January 2026 and send them to full council. LUPZ will be looking at about 150 proposals. They can be seen in rough form at 2025 Update: EPC Spreadsheet of Proposed Changes | Interactive Integrated Development Ordinance. We are advising you of several that stand out for impact on Nob Hill’s neighborhoods. “M” means they come from the mayor, “C” means council, and others are from the planning department.
Your neighborhood association anticipates developing a statement of position on these proposals to submit to the LUPZ when it meets in January 2026. If you have questions or positions on them, please let us know at theboard@nobhill-nm.com
Proposal M-1, C-5, and others: Loosen some requirements for safe outdoor spaces.
Proposal M-2; Make bodegas permissive in R-1, R-T and R-ML citywide. In R-1 only on corner lots.
C-2; Make Duplexes permissive in R-1 citywide. Duplex: a residential building containing 2 dwelling units, each of which is designed for or occupied by 1 family only, with kitchens for each. Each unit is completely separated from the other by an unpierced wall dividing the units side-to-side or back-to-front or by an unpierced ceiling and floor.
C-3; Make Townhouses permissive in R-1 city-wide. Townhouse: A building or multiple buildings with 3 or more dwelling units divided from each other by vertical common walls, each having a separate entrance leading directly to the outdoors at ground level.
C-4; Casitas (ADU’s), which are already permissive in R-1 ciy-wide, can be detached or attached to the primary structure.
C-7; Make bodegas permissive on corner lots in R-1, R-T, and R-ML.
C-10; Remove requirement for off-site (probably mean off-street) parking space for an accessory dwelling unit (currently one space).
C-8; Make overnight shelters with 10 or fewer beds permissive within the MX-M, MX-H, and several non-residential zone districts.
C-12; Reduce the number of required parking spaces for most uses in Table 50-5-1 by 20% with some exceptions.
16; Make Family home day care an accessory use for a dwelling unit…Conditional use approval by Zoning Hearing Examiner no longer needed.
26; Prohibit Nicotine Retail on a lot within 1,000 ft in any direction of any other primary nicotine retail use.
29; Allow accessory dwelling units up to 18 ft high or as high as primary structure, whichever is higher. ADU over a garage can be up to 26 ft. high.
30; Prohibit single family home in MX-T. Existing homes could continue to be used as single family but could not build additions. If not used for single family for 2 years the use would no longer be allowed.
36; Reduce parking requirement for multi-family dwelling units.97; Limit the number of dwelling units allowed in a multi-family dwelling with a rear or side lot line that abuts an R-1 lot to 6 dwelling units.
ZC-3; Zoning conversions in Major Transit Areas. This would affect many lots in Nob Hill, including R-1, R-T, and R-ML lots within 660 ft of Lomas, Girard, and Central which are major transit areas.
a. Convert R-1 (26 ft. max height) to R-T (26 ft. max height)
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b. Convert R-T (26 ft. max height) to MX-T (30 ft. max height). (This could impact qualifying for a residential mortgage for a lot currently zoned R-T.)
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c. Convert R-ML (38 ft max height) to MX-L (38 ft max height but in Urban Center, UC-Main Street, MS-Premium Transit, PT: 55 ft. max height plus up to 12 ft. structured parking bonus and 12 ft. workforce housing bonus). This would introduce commercial uses including elementary, middle, and high school, restaurant, car wash, light vehicle repair, cannabis cultivation and retail, general retail small, grocery, into a residential area.) Find allowable uses in each zone district starting on page 185 of 674 at https://abq-zone.com/integrated-development-ordinance-ido
