Douglas County adopts ordinance implementing AB241 to allow mixed-use residential in commercial zones

Douglas County commissioners adopted Ordinance 2025-1661 on Feb. 1, a zoning-text amendment to Title 20 implementing Assembly Bill 241 (2025). The ordinance allows multifamily residential or mixed-use developments by right in commercial zoning districts including general commercial, tourist commercial, neighborhood commercial and office commercial, subject to development standards and a required commercial component.

Principal Planner Kate Morales O'Neil explained that AB241 required governing bodies to authorize multifamily in commercial zones; the county and its towns (Minden, Gardnerville and Genoa) discussed options and recommended that any by-right multifamily include a commercial component so that commercial land use objectives are preserved. "Multifamily residential projects will be allowed by right in the following commercially zoned districts... Any proposed multifamily residential development must include some type of approved commercial component use," Morales O'Neil said.

Commissioners discussed how the change aligns with the county master plan and Title 20 updates. Morales O'Neil said the county's Master Plan (updated in 2020) and the forthcoming Title 20 revision would help clarify implementation. The board adopted the ordinance on second reading after public comment, voting unanimously.

The ordinance does not force redevelopment; it creates an additional by-right pathway for mixed-use projects that meet code, including the requirement that they are not 100% residential in the covered commercial zones. Community Development staff will apply existing development standards and the county’s growth management/vested-rights framework when reviewing proposed projects under the new code provisions.