Data dictionary

zone_minimums.csv (224 rows)

One row per residential zoning district per municipality.

Column	Meaning
`muni_name`	Municipality, Census place naming ("Carmel city", "Plainfield town"). "Indianapolis city (balance)" is the Marion County consolidated area excluding the excluded cities.
`zone`	District symbol as it appears in the ordinance (R1, RS-2, SF-4, D-5II, etc.). Parenthetical entries are descriptive where a single symbol does not apply.
`min_lot_sf`	Minimum lot area for a single-family detached dwelling in that district, in square feet. Blank means the district has no minimum lot area (see notes).
`sf_by_right`	`Y` means a single-family detached dwelling is a permitted (by-right) use in this district. `N` means the district is included for context (two-family, multifamily, or repealed) but SFD is not by-right.
`basis`	How the value was determined. `stated`: the ordinance states a minimum lot area. `density-derived`: the ordinance regulates maximum density (units per acre) rather than lot area; value is 43,560 divided by max density. `governance-note`: the row records a jurisdictional relationship, not a standard.
`source`	Ordinance, section or table, and (for online-only codes) the platform. Full documents in the library; access dates in web-capture files.
`notes`	Caveats: sewer or septic variants, geographic restrictions (for example Noblesville Central Core Map), repealed districts.
`zone_class`	`standard` means the district is part of the municipality's normal residential ladder. The largest, median, and smallest figures use standard districts only. Non-standard classes are listed on each municipality's page but excluded from those figures: `estate` (large-lot estate districts), `rural` (rural-exception districts), `special` (special-purpose or character-based districts), `open-land` (non-residential holding).

smallest_by_right.csv (49 rows)

One row per municipality: the smallest min_lot_sf across that muni's districts where sf_by_right = Y. South Bend is absent because its form-based code has no minimum lot area in any district (lot width only); treat as "no minimum."

Interpretive cautions

A small-lot district existing on paper does not mean land is mapped to it. This dataset records ordinance text, not zoning maps. In several municipalities nearly all new construction occurs on lots smaller than the mapped district minimums, via planned unit developments (PUDs) or rezonings.
Sewer matters. Many minimums double or more without municipal sewer; values here are the sewered case unless noted.
Vintages vary (2009 to 2026); each document's vintage is in the manifest and index.
Largest, median, and smallest reflect the standard residential ladder. Estate, rural, and special-purpose districts are recorded and shown on each municipality's page but excluded from those figures (see zone_class).
Density-based codes (Lebanon, Munster) legitimately do not state lot-area minimums; derived values are approximations for comparability.

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zone_minimums.csv (224 rows)

smallest_by_right.csv (49 rows)

Interpretive cautions

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