Enabling statute

North Dakota

North Dakota Century Code, Title 40, Chapter 40-47 (City Zoning); and Title 11, Chapter 11-33 (County Zoning)

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Summary

North Dakota delegates zoning authority to local governments through two parallel enabling chapters of the Century Code, both descended from the Standard State Zoning Enabling Act. Chapter 40-47 (City Zoning) empowers the governing body of any city to regulate building height, lot coverage, density, and the use of land for the protection of health, safety, morals, and general welfare, and to divide the city into uniform districts. Chapter 11-33 (County Zoning) grants the board of county commissioners parallel power to regulate the location, use, and occupancy of buildings and land within the county and to divide the county into districts by resolution. There is no statewide land-use zoning authority; zoning power rests with municipalities and counties (with cities also able to assert extraterritorial jurisdiction under 40-47-01.1). Confidence is high; operative text was taken verbatim from the official North Dakota Legislative Branch Century Code PDFs.

The delegation

CHAPTER 40-47 — CITY ZONING 40-47-01. Cities may zone - Application of regulations. For the purpose of promoting health, safety, morals, or the general welfare of the community, the governing body of any city may, subject to the provisions of chapter 54-21.3, regulate and restrict the height, number of stories, and the size of buildings and other structures, the percentage of lot that may be occupied, the size of yards, courts, and other open spaces, the density of population, and the location and use of buildings, structures, and land for trade, industry, residence, or other purposes. The regulations may provide that a board of adjustment may determine and vary the application of the regulations in harmony with the regulations' general purpose and intent and in accordance with general or specific rules contained in the regulations. The governing body of a city may establish institutional controls that address environmental concerns with the department of environmental quality as provided in section 23.1-10-16. 40-47-02. Division of city into districts to carry out regulations. The governing body may divide the city into districts of such number, shape, and area as may be deemed best suited to carry out the purposes of this chapter, and may regulate and restrict the erection, construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, or use of buildings, structures, or land within such districts. All regulations shall be uniform for each class or kind of buildings throughout each district, but the regulations in one district may differ from those in other districts. ---- CHAPTER 11-33 — COUNTY ZONING 11-33-01. County power to regulate property. For the purpose of promoting health, safety, morals, public convenience, general prosperity, and public welfare, the board of county commissioners of any county may regulate and restrict within the county, subject to chapter 54-21.3, the location and the use of buildings and structures and the use, condition of use, or occupancy of lands for residence, recreation, and other purposes. The board of county commissioners and a county zoning commission shall state the grounds upon which any request for a zoning amendment or variance is approved or disapproved, and written findings upon which the decision is based must be included within the records of the board or commission. [...] The board of county commissioners may establish institutional controls that address environmental concerns with the department of environmental quality as provided in section 23.1-10-16. 11-33-02. Board of county commissioners to designate districts - Uniformity. For any or all of the purposes designated in section 11-33-01, the board of county commissioners may divide by resolution all or any parts of the county, subject to section 11-33-02.1 into districts of such number, shape, and area as may be determined necessary, and likewise may enact suitable regulations to carry out the purposes of this chapter. These regulations must be uniform in each district, but the regulations in one district may differ from those in other districts.

Verification

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Verified against the official North Dakota Legislative Branch Century Code (ndlegis.gov), confirmed via second source (Justia listings of current 2024 code). (a) Real, current statutes: Both chapters exist and are current. Chapter 40-47 "City Zoning" (ndlegis.gov/cencode/t40c47.html and .pdf) and Chapter 11-33 "County Zoning" (ndlegis.gov/cencode/t11c33.html and .pdf). Justia shows both in the 2024 ND Century Code. (b) Genuine zoning enabling authority: Confirmed. - N.D.C.C. 40-47-01 empowers a city's governing body to regulate height/number of stories/size of buildings, percentage of lot occupied, size of yards/open spaces, density of population, and the use of buildings/structures/land. 40-47-01.1 grants extraterritorial jurisdiction (the claim's framing of this as ETJ is correct). 40-47-02 divides the city into districts; 40-47-03 ties regulations to public health, safety, and general welfare with uniformity in districts. - N.D.C.C. 11-33-01 (quoted verbatim from official PDF): 'For the purpose of promoting health, safety, morals, public convenience, general prosperity, and public welfare, the board of county commissioners of any county may regulate and restrict within the county... the location and the use of buildings and structures and the use, condition of use, or occupancy of lands for residence, recreation, and other purposes.' 11-33-02 allows the board to 'divide by resolution all or any parts of the county... into districts,' with uniformity within each district. This matches the claimed summary precisely. (c) authority_model 'county_and_municipal' is accurate: Two parallel enabling chapters (cities under Title 40 ch. 40-47; counties under Title 11 ch. 11-33). No statewide land-use zoning authority. The Standard State Zoning Enabling Act lineage is consistent with the SSZEA-style language ('height, number of stories, size of buildings... density of population... health, safety, morals... general welfare'). Minor note (not a defect): the city chapter's purpose language enumerated in 40-47-03 emphasizes 'public health, safety, and general welfare'; the explicit 'morals' phrasing is most prominent in the county chapter (11-33-01). The summary's attribution of operative powers to each chapter is otherwise accurate. Citation, title, authority_model, and summary all confirmed correct.