NMSA 3-21 — Municipal/County Zoning Enabling Act (Dillon's Rule Baseline) (NM)
Tracked preemption from the New Mexico overlay bundle.
Overview
← All state preemptionsNew Mexico overlay roll-upNew Mexico zoning wikiNew Mexico building codesFederal overlaysGlossaryFederal-conflict: Not flagged
Effective
1965-01-01
Sunset
—
Authority
state
Scope
state:NM
Other New Mexico preemptions
WIPP (Carlsbad) Federal Radioactive Waste CorridorNMSA 3-21A — Manufactured Home Siting Non-DiscriminationMilitary AICUZ / Federal Installation Overlays (Kirtland AFB, Holloman AFB, WSMR, Cannon AFB)N.M. Const. Art. X § 6 — Constitutional Municipal Home Rule (Charter Cities)NMSA 3-21-2 / 3-21-6 — Extraterritorial Joint Zoning Authority (EZA/ELUC, SFEZO)Los Alamos County / LANL Federal–County Hybrid GovernanceFederal-Land Jurisdiction Carve-Out (BLM / USFS / NPS / State Trust Lands)Acequia / Community Ditch Overlay (NMSA Ch. 73)
Trigger predicate
When this evaluates true for a parcel, the law's preempted fields take precedence over base zoning.
city.home_rule_charter == FalsePreempted fields
2 fields on the base district schema are rewritten when the trigger fires.
| Field | Op | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
zoning_authority_scope | override | delegated_enumerated_powers | General-law (non-charter) municipalities exercise only powers expressly delegated by NMSA 3-21; local innovations beyond the enabling act's scope are vulnerable to ultra vires challenge |
procedural_requirements | override | nmsa_3_21_5_through_3_21_11 | Zoning commission composition, notice/hearing, board-of-adjustment, and 30-day district-court appeal window are state-prescribed |
Citation
Authority source
NMSA 1978 §§ 3-21-1 through 3-21-26 (Municipal and County Zoning) + §§ 3-19-1 through 3-19-12 (Planning)
§ NMSA 3-21-1 (delegation) + 3-21-4 (purposes) + 3-21-11 (appeals)
Research notes
Enabling statute, not a preempting one — included here because it defines the baseline zoning power envelope for non-charter NM cities. Standard State Zoning Enabling Act descendant covering height, lot coverage, yards, density, and use regulation. § 3-19-11 grants municipalities extraterritorial platting jurisdiction within 3 miles of city boundary (subdivision review only, not zoning). Master plans are permissive, not mandatory; NM does NOT require cities to plan for housing at specified densities (no Goal 10 / housing-element analogue).