Albuquerque, NM Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Downtown Design Guide (2026)

The Integrated Development Ordinance's Character Protection Overlay Zone 3 (CPO-3), the Downtown Neighborhood Area, applies within a mapped boundary; where that boundary crosses a lot line, the entire lot is subject to CPO-3 standards instead of the citywide Table 5-1-1 dimensional standards. In the MX-L and MX-M districts abutting Central Avenue, front setbacks are capped at 10 feet, rising to 15 feet where the building includes a front patio or outdoor dining space. Side setbacks in those districts run from 0 feet on an interior lot line to 5 feet on the street side of a corner lot and 10 feet where the lot abuts an R-1 or R-T district.

Rear setbacks are a minimum of 15 feet, or 25 feet abutting R-1 or R-T. Off-street parking must sit back at least 10 feet from any lot line abutting a public street, though no setback applies along an alley. The overlay's build-out standard requires at least 50 percent of a lot's street frontage to be occupied by building, with the remaining frontage limited to courtyard, landscaping, or outdoor dining seating, so a project cannot push its building to the back of the lot and cover the frontage with parking.

In the R-ML and MX-T districts, CPO-3 caps building height at 40 feet, and an accessory dwelling in the R-1 or R-T districts cannot exceed the height of the primary dwelling or 18 feet, whichever is less. Because Part 14-16-3 (Overlay Zones) is one of the standards that can override Table 5-1-1, the Planning Department applies CPO-3's setback, height, and frontage numbers instead of the base zone district's dimensional table whenever a project sits inside the mapped Downtown Neighborhood Area.