Base district · commercial · City of Mesa AZ

Can you build self-storage / multifamily in MX (City of Mesa AZ)?

Mixed Use. Maximum height is 30 ft in every commercial district. Residential requires a minimum 60% commercial gross floor area under Section 11-31-31; MX has a 15 du/acre MINIMUM residential density

What you may build in MX

Every verdict below is the base-district answer read out of the ordinance of record, with the section that says so. A use with no row is shown as unknown rather than folded into “no”.

Self-storage

Allowed, but only with a discretionary approval

Ordinance symbol
CUP (7)
Approval body
City Council after review and recommendation by the Planning & Zoning Board (11-70-6)
Code section
MZO 11-6-2 (Table 11-6-2)
The code's own words for this use
Mini-Storage
Transcription confidence
high

Council Use Permit, with note 7: 'All activities must be conducted entirely within an enclosed building, with no outside storage or display.' A drive-up single-story product does not fit MX; this is a climate-controlled multi-storey product only

Multifamily

Permitted by right

Ordinance symbol
P (21, 22)
Approval body
Development Plan Review, Chapter 69
Code section
MZO 11-6-2 (Table 11-6-2) / 11-6-3
The code's own words for this use
Multiple Residence (two or more primary dwelling units on a single lot)
Transcription confidence
high

Permitted by right. MX is the only district with a MINIMUM residential density (15 du/net acre) as well as a maximum (25). Notes 21 and 22 convert it to a CUP inside AOA 1 and AOA 2

Indoor warehousing

Not allowed

Code section
MZO 11-6-2 (Table 11-6-2)
The code's own words for this use
Indoor Warehousing and Storage
Transcription confidence
high

Not listed for this district. Note that in the commercial districts the row is absent entirely, unlike Mini-Storage which is listed with explicit values

Middle housing

Not allowed

Code section
MZO 11-6-2 (Table 11-6-2)
The code's own words for this use
Middle Housing (duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes and townhouses)
Transcription confidence
high

Not listed in the district use table; the table preamble states 'Use classifications not listed are prohibited'

Mixed use

Permitted by right

Ordinance symbol
P
Approval body
Development Plan Review, Chapter 69
Code section
MZO 11-6-1(B)(5) / 11-6-2
The code's own words for this use
mixed use (residential combined with commercial on one site)
Transcription confidence
high

This is the district's stated purpose: 'employment centers, retail and service commercial uses, medical and professional offices, and residential uses at densities of 15 to 25 units per acre'. Still subject to the 60% commercial gross floor area rule in 11-31-31

RV / boat storage

Not allowed

Ordinance symbol
Code section
MZO 11-6-2 (Table 11-6-2)
The code's own words for this use
Boat and Recreational Vehicle Storage
Transcription confidence
high

Not available in this district

How big you may build it

A blank cell means this dataset carries no number for that standard — read it as “go and look”, not as zero.

Dimensional standards, MX — City of Mesa AZ
StandardValueField
Floor area ratio (FAR)far
Maximum height30 ftmax_height_ft
Maximum site coverage80%site_coverage
Minimum lot area5,000 sfmin_lot_area_sf
Minimum lot width50 ftmin_lot_width_ft
Minimum lot area per dwelling unitmin_lot_area_per_du_sf
Maximum density25 du / acremax_du_per_acre_derived
Front setback15 ftsetback_front_ft
Street-side setback15 ftsetback_side_street_ft
Interior side setback10 ftsetback_side_interior_ft
Rear setback10 ftsetback_rear_ft

Dimensional standards from MZO 11-6-2 / 11-6-3 (Table 11-6-3.A) / 11-31-31.

Standards notes. Front and street-facing side vary by street classification in the Mesa Transportation Plan: arterial 15 ft, collector 15 ft, local 20 ft, freeway 30 ft for buildings and 15 ft for parking structures/fields. Value in setback_front_ft is the arterial/collector case. MX interior side and rear setbacks are lower than the other commercial districts: adjacent to RS 15/25/35 ft by 1/2/3 stories; adjacent to RM 15 ft first story plus 10 ft per additional story; adjacent to non-residential 10 ft per story. Minimum lot depth 100 ft. max_du_per_acre_derived is the CODE-STATED maximum residential density (Table 11-6-3.A); Section 11-31-31(A)(2) restates it as 15 du/acre in NC and 25 du/acre in LC and GC. Projects exceeding it require a Council Use Permit. Minimum outdoor living area 100 sf per unit. Setback at street intersections: 25 ft radius arterial/arterial and arterial/collector, 15 ft collector/collector

No district in this dataset publishes a floor area ratio: intensity in this code is governed by lot coverage, height and — for residential — density or minimum lot area per dwelling unit. See the metro page for the provenance note on that.

Now find out whether it pencils in City of Mesa AZ.

Self-storage is on the table here. Price the pad: net-rentable area, stabilized NOI, yield on cost and the land bid it supports — free, in about a minute.

The quick screen is free and needs no account. The sample study is the seven-page deliverable the Feasibility Desk produces.

Before you rely on this

base district only; overlay geometry not checked — an Airfield or Form-Based Code designation can flip answers

This is a base-district reading of the ordinance text, transcribed from the source below. It is not a Zoning Verification Letter, not a determination by the jurisdiction, not legal advice, and not a substitute for asking the planning department about a specific parcel. Overlays, recorded plan conditions, rezoning stipulations and parcel geometry are not checked here, and any one of them can change the answer on this page.

Verify locally before you spend money. Call the planning counter, pull the parcel's zoning-map designation and its case history, and confirm the section cited above still reads the way it reads here.

Source of record

Document
Mesa City Code, Title 11 — Zoning Ordinance (the "MZO")
Publisher of record
City of Mesa, hosted on Municode (CivicPlus Codification)
Codified through
Ordinance No. 5996, adopted 2026-03-09 (banner text, verbatim)
Retrieved
2026-08-12

Full provenance, the source hashes and the known limitations for City of Mesa AZ →