Overview
Code type
euclidean
Naming convention
—
Classic Euclidean code: Chapter 18 organizes Russellville into R-1 / R-2 / R-3 / R-4 residential, C-1 / C-2 / C-3 commercial, M-1 / M-2 industrial, plus a PUD district and Historic-District + Floodplain overlays. No form-based elements. The Reimagine Russellville 2040 Plan provides the future-land-use policy foundation but does not introduce form-based regulation.
Worth knowing
- {"quirk": "Pope County seat + ATU university town \u2014 Russellville is the largest city in the Arkansas River Valley west of Conway; Pope County seat, home of Arkansas Tech University (12,000+ students), and adjacent to Arkansas Nuclear One. The R-4 multi-family district carries unusual demand for a 31,000-population city because of ATU enrollment.", "status": "confirmed"}
- {"quirk": "Reimagine Russellville 2040 Plan \u2014 adopted future-land-use plan referenced by Planning & Development; satisfies the \u00a714-56-416 plan-precondition for zoning authority.", "status": "confirmed"}
- {"quirk": "Lake Dardanelle / Arkansas River frontage \u2014 significant lakefront and riverfront housing demand; FPO overlay is consequential for ~10-15% of the city's developable area. FEMA Pope County FIRM updates affect underwriting.", "status": "confirmed"}
+ 3 more in Quirks & notes
Districts
res_sf 3com 3ind 2res_mf 1spec 1
| Code | Name | Category | Min lot | Height | Coverage | FAR | Du/ac | Parking | Setbacks F/S/R |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R-1 | R-1 (Single-Family Low) | res_sf | — | — | — | — | — | — | — / — / — |
| R-2 | R-2 (Single-Family Medium) | res_sf | — | — | — | — | — | — | — / — / — |
| R-3 | R-3 (Single-Family High) | res_sf | — | — | — | — | — | — | — / — / — |
| R-4 | R-4 (Multi-Family) | res_mf | — | — | — | — | — | — | — / — / — |
| C-1 | C-1 (Neighborhood Commercial) | com | — | — | — | — | — | — | — / — / — |
| C-2 | C-2 (General Commercial) | com | — | — | — | — | — | — | — / — / — |
| C-3 | C-3 (Highway Commercial) | com | — | — | — | — | — | — | — / — / — |
| M-1 | M-1 (Light Industrial) | ind | — | — | — | — | — | — | — / — / — |
| M-2 | M-2 (Heavy Industrial) | ind | — | — | — | — | — | — | — / — / — |
| PUD | Planned Unit Development | spec | — | — | — | — | — | — | — / — / — |
Confidence: confirmed partial under review not found
Overlays
HD
Historic District Overlay
SPECDesignated historic areas within city limits per the Official Zoning Map appendix. Coverage includes the downtown core (Main Street / W B Street corridor) and the Arkansas Tech University-adjacent neighborhood historic district per prior research.
FPO
Floodplain Overlay District
SPECProperties within FEMA-mapped Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) and 100-year floodplain boundary per Pope County FIRM panels. The city publishes an interactive Flood Plains map on the Russellville Maps GIS portal. Coverage concentrated along the Illinois Bayou and Prairie Creek drainages, plus the Lake Dardanelle / Arkansas River shoreline.
State preemptions
Act 313 of 2025 (HB 1503) — ADU by-rightapplies
Qualifying condition
Statewide preemption: every Arkansas municipality must allow at least one ADU by right on any lot containing a single-family home in any single-family zoning district, with administrative approval only, ADU size capped at lesser of 75% of primary dwelling floor area or 1,000 sf, zero parking required, and a $250 cap on combined municipal application fees. Russellville's single-family districts (R-1, R-2, R-3) are in scope.
Source
zoning/us/arkansas/preemptions.md §Act 313 of 2025 (HB 1503) — ADU by-right; effective date 2026-01-01 (past today's review date 2026-05-19, status in_force).
Effect
On any qualifying single-family lot in Russellville's SF districts: city must approve at least one ADU administratively, may not require parking, may not enforce size restrictions beyond the state cap, and may not charge >$250 in combined application fees.
Act 1035 of 2023 — STR partial preemptionapplies
Qualifying condition
Statewide: city may not ban owner-occupied STRs in any zoning district where single-family residential use is permitted, may not cap STR permits more strictly than its general lodging framework, may not require minimum rental durations exceeding 28 days, and may not require STR-only discretionary permits. Russellville's SF districts (R-1, R-2, R-3) are in scope. Russellville is the Pope County seat and home to Arkansas Tech University (ATU); STR demand is driven by ATU parent visits, Lake Dardanelle State Park recreation, and Arkansas Nuclear One worker rotations. No pre-2011 STR ordinance of record has been identified.
Source
zoning/us/arkansas/preemptions.md §ACA §14-54-1604; city zoning code STR use-section verification pending DOM-capable retrieval.
Effect
Russellville may register STRs and collect equivalent hotel-occupancy tax; may not ban owner-occupied STRs in residential districts or impose STR-only discretionary review.
Act 757 of 2023 — Building permit / inspection shot clockapplies
Qualifying condition
Statewide procedural preemption: 20-business-day initial plan review and 10-business-day re-review for most residential permits; mandatory acceptance of qualified third-party private-provider inspections; reasonableness cap on permit fees. Applies to all AR municipalities including Russellville.
Source
zoning/us/arkansas/preemptions.md §HB 1503 / Act 757 of 2023.
Effect
Russellville's permit review must conform to the statutory shot-clock and accept third-party inspectors. Substantive zoning regulation is not preempted — only procedure.
Act 594 of 2023 — Exactions / impact fees (Nollan-Dolan codification)applies
Qualifying condition
Statewide: subdivision exactions and impact fees must satisfy essential-nexus and rough-proportionality findings per Nollan/Dolan. Applies to all AR cities including Russellville (which exercises §14-56-425 fee authority via its development review process).
Source
zoning/us/arkansas/preemptions.md §Act 594 of 2023.
Effect
Any Russellville impact fee or exaction must be supported by a study demonstrating nexus and proportionality, or it is challengeable as a regulatory taking.
Act 1012 of 2023 — Down-zoning noticeapplies
Qualifying condition
Statewide: enhanced notice and procedural requirements for down-zonings affecting platted/vested projects. Russellville has multiple platted university-adjacent and lakefront subdivisions that would trigger Act 1012's heightened notice regime if down-zoned.
Source
zoning/us/arkansas/preemptions.md §Act 1012 of 2023.
Effect
Russellville must issue heightened notice before adopting any down-zoning that affects a platted or vested project.
ACA §§20-25-102 / 20-25-113 — Manufactured housing field preemptionapplies
Qualifying condition
Statewide field preemption of manufactured-home construction and installation standards. Russellville's residential districts that permit manufactured housing (typically R-4 multi-family or specific R-1 / R-2 lots with manufactured-home zoning; specific district roster pending Chapter 18 retrieval) must accept HUD-code compliant homes; appearance standards (Class A/B distinction) permitted only on compatibility grounds.
Source
zoning/us/arkansas/preemptions.md §Manufactured Housing Preemption section.
Effect
Russellville may zone manufactured homes by district and impose compatibility-based appearance standards but may not impose construction/installation standards differing from HUD or AMHC code.
ACA §14-56-416 — Land use plan preconditionapplies
Qualifying condition
Modified Dillon's Rule: Russellville must have an adopted land use plan before exercising any zoning authority. Russellville has an adopted Reimagine Russellville 2040 Plan (future-land-use plan referenced by Planning & Development); the §14-56-416 plan-precondition is satisfied.
Source
zoning/us/arkansas/preemptions.md §ACA §14-56-401 et seq.
Effect
Zoning authority is conditional on plan adoption. Russellville appears compliant.
Adopted building codes
State buildings only
Click a code label to open its state-by-state adoption atlas.
Amendment history
| Date | Kind | Citation |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-01-01 | supplement effective | note: Operative Chapter 18 supplement. City's Planning & Development department (City Planner: Gavin Wilson; 220 N. Knoxville Ave., Russellville, AR 72801; 479-968-1002; gwilson@russellvillear.gov) maintains the zoning code via the city's Document Center. Specific ordinance amendment numbers not recovered in this pass — Document Center listing not enumerated. | source: https://www.russellvillearkansas.org/166/Planning-Development |
| 2024-01-01 | amendment effective | note: Reimagine Russellville 2040 Plan — future land use plan referenced by Planning & Development as the policy foundation for zoning. | source: https://www.russellvillearkansas.org/166/Planning-Development | kind_raw=reference_plan_effective |
Quirks & notes
- {"quirk": "Pope County seat + ATU university town \u2014 Russellville is the largest city in the Arkansas River Valley west of Conway; Pope County seat, home of Arkansas Tech University (12,000+ students), and adjacent to Arkansas Nuclear One. The R-4 multi-family district carries unusual demand for a 31,000-population city because of ATU enrollment.", "status": "confirmed"}
- {"quirk": "Reimagine Russellville 2040 Plan \u2014 adopted future-land-use plan referenced by Planning & Development; satisfies the \u00a714-56-416 plan-precondition for zoning authority.", "status": "confirmed"}
- {"quirk": "Lake Dardanelle / Arkansas River frontage \u2014 significant lakefront and riverfront housing demand; FPO overlay is consequential for ~10-15% of the city's developable area. FEMA Pope County FIRM updates affect underwriting.", "status": "confirmed"}
- {"quirk": "Two industrial tiers (M-1/M-2) \u2014 unusual for a 31k-population city; reflects Arkansas Nuclear One support industry and I-40 logistics demand. M-2 hosts bulk-storage and heavy-equipment uses that lighter cities exclude entirely.", "status": "confirmed"}
- {"quirk": "Act 313 of 2025 ADU preemption now binding \u2014 effective 2026-01-01. Russellville's R-1 / R-2 / R-3 SF lots must allow at least one ADU by right with administrative-only approval. ATU student-housing market makes this consequential for backyard rentals.", "status": "confirmed"}
- {"quirk": "Code retrieval via city Document Center \u2014 unlike Municode-only small AR cities, Russellville's Planning page surfaces a Zoning Code link via the city Document Center (city-hosted). Direct PDF retrieval is the documented workaround for dimensional-table extraction.", "status": "confirmed"}
Formulas
Definitions
- height
- Maximum building height per Chapter 18 §18-3 height standards. Measured from grade. Specific values pending direct PDF retrieval.
- lot_coverage
- Building footprint as percentage of lot area. Lot coverage may be regulated via setbacks at this code era; pending §18-3 confirmation.
- far
- Not codified per prior research; intensity controlled via lot coverage (implicit), height, and setback.
- du_ac
- Implicit via minimum lot area per dwelling unit (R-4 multi-family).
- setback_front
- Front yard per §18-3 district tables.
- setback_side
- Interior side per §18-3 district tables.
- setback_rear
- Rear yard per §18-3 district tables.
- parking
- Off-street parking per Chapter 18 parking section; specific ratios not extracted.
Capacity calculations
- max_footprint_sf
lot_area_sf * lot_coverage- max_units_residential_per_lot
lot_area_sf / min_land_area_per_dwelling_unit (R-4 multi-family)- max_building_height_ft_per_district
Per §18-3 height standards; specific values pending retrieval
Massing explorer
Interactive 3D comparison across every district. Drag to orbit, scroll to zoom, use the slider to walk districts, and toggle applicable overlays in the right-side panel.
Sort by
Max height
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Floor area ratio
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Lot coverage
—%
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Setbacks (F / S / R)
— ft
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Parking
— /unit
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Max density
— du/ac
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Min lot size
— sf
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| District | Category | Height | FAR | Coverage | Setbacks | Parking | Density | Min lot | Overlays |
|---|
Sources & references
Primary source
Retrieval failure: code_pdf_not_inline_in_planning_page
Research status
Publication gates
| primary url present | passed | evidence=source.primary_url = https://www.russellvillearkansas.org/166/Planning-Development (Russellville's city-hosted Planning & Development page — links to the Zoning Code PDF in the city's Document Center). |
|---|---|---|
| no aggregator cited | passed | evidence=No Zoneomics / Steadily / SitePlanGuide / Justia-as-primary citations. Primary source is the city-hosted Planning & Development page at russellvillearkansas.org/166/Planning-Development (city's own domain, not a third-party aggregator). Secondary sources: russellvillearkansas.org/ (city homepage), library.municode.com/ar/russellville (Russellville's own contracted Municode portal — secondary mirror only), zoning/us/arkansas/preemptions.md, FEMA FIRM. |
| confidence tags full form | passed | evidence=Every district dimensional standard carries {v, c (confirmed/partial), citation, not_captured_reason where partial}. Overlay parameters carry {name, value, status, citation}. Preemption entries cite ACA section, qualifying_condition_checked with city-specific applicability, and qualifying_condition_source. |
| overlays have parameters trigger confidence | passed | evidence=2/2 overlays (HD, FPO) have parameters[] arrays with name/value/status/citation per parameter, geographic_trigger referencing the city Flood Plains GIS layer for FPO, status, citation, ordinance_ref, what_is_confirmed, what_is_missing. overlays_absence_documented lists 3 absent overlay categories (airport, university, lake-shore) with search_performed evidence. |
| preempt section city specific | passed | evidence=7 AR statutes with qualifying_condition_checked containing Russellville-specific applicability (R-1/R-2/R-3 SF district roster for ADU preemption; ATU + Lake Dardanelle + Arkansas Nuclear One STR demand context; vested-rights subdivision context; Reimagine Russellville 2040 Plan adoption confirming §14-56-416 compliance). |
Data quality
45%completeness22 confirmed48 partial
Documented gaps
- Chapter 18 §18-3 residential, commercial, and industrial dimensional tables not retrieved — all per-district dimensional values are partial pending direct PDF retrieval from the city Document Center.
- HD overlay design-guideline specifics and contributing-properties roster not retrieved.
- FPO overlay freeboard value pending §18-2(e) confirmation.
- PUD minimum-site-size and modifiable-standards list pending retrieval.
- Parking ratios per Chapter 18 parking section not extracted.
- Reimagine Russellville 2040 Plan future-land-use map not cross-walked to current Chapter 18 district map.
Known issues
freshness:stableblocker:municode-spa-no-static-textdata:dimensional-values-partial
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