City of Reno Zoning Code Items

The City is undergoing amendments to the Development Code. See each subsection below for more information.

Most Recent Updates

  • Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs): On October 8, 2025, City Council adopted an ordinance allowing ADUs in the City of Reno. See the "Accessory Dwelling Unit" section below for more information. 
  • Live Entertainment: Staff held three virtual public workshops relating to live entertainment regulations. Additionally, a survey is open to collect feedback on this topic. Please see the "Live Entertainment" section below for meeting dates and links, the survey, and additional information regarding this topic.
  • Childcare: On January 14, 2026, City Council adopted an ordinance removing and reducing barriers for childcare providers. See the "Childcare" section below for more information. 
  • Sign Code: On June 4, 2025, City Council adopted an ordinance amending the sign regulations. See the "Signs Ordinance" section below for more information.

Options for Submitting Feedback

Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)

Feedback received from the public engagement process helped to shape the ordinance that was approved by City Council on October 8, 2025.

Past Efforts:

A survey was held from January 1st through February 29th, 2024, to garner public feedback on ADUs. The survey results can also be viewed online. The results of the survey were presented to the City Council on March 27th, 2024.  Council directed staff to come back to discuss specific standards and restrictions that will be in the zoning code regarding ADUs.

Staff brought back specific standards for discussion with City Council at the July 31, 2024, meeting, and Council provided feedback. Additional discussion and feedback was then garnered through virtual stakeholder meetings and Neighborhood Advisory Board (NAB) meetings, a list of which can be found below. Following the public engagement efforts, a draft of the ordinance was brought to the Planning Commission and to the City Council for review.

Engagement efforts: 

Virtual Stakeholder Meetings were held February 19th and 24th. A recording of the meetings, including a presentation by staff and engagement from participants can be found below:

In addition to the Virtual Stakeholder Meetings above, staff also attended various Neighborhood Advisory Board (NAB) Meetings, the Planning Commission, and brought a draft to the City Council for feedback. The same information was provided at each meeting.  Multiple dates/times were scheduled to provide more opportunities for the public to participate. 

  • February 4th at 5:30 pm - Ward 3 NAB
  • February 10th at 5:30 pm - Ward 1 NAB
  • February 18th at 5:30 pm - Ward 2 NAB
  • February 19th at 5:30 pm - Virtual Stakeholder Meeting
  • February 20th at 6:00 pm - Ward 4 NAB
  • February 24th at 9:00 am - Virtual Stakeholder Meeting
  • February 24th at 5:00 pm - Virtual Stakeholder Meeting
  • March 19th at 6 pm - Planning Commission 
  • April 23, 2025 at 10 am - City Council
  • August 6, 2025 at 6 pm - Planning Commission
  • September 10, 2025 at 10 am - City Council (Ordinance Intro)
  • October 8, 2025 at 10 am - City Council (Ordinance Adoption)

On January 14, 2026 City Council adopted staffs recommended ordinance related to childcare uses. Below is a list of the past outreach efforts.

Past Efforts: 

  • Planning Commission - November 5, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. - City Hall 1 E 1st Street Reno, NV
  • City Council 1st Reading - December 3, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. - City Hall 1 E 1st Street Reno, NV
  • City Council 2nd Reading - January 14, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. - City Hall 1 E 1st Street Reno, NV
  • September 2nd at 5:30 p.m. Ward 3 NAB - City Hall 1 E 1st Street Reno, NV
  • September 4th at 5:30 p.m. Ward 6 NAB - City Hall 1 E 1st Street Reno, NV 
  • September 8th at 5:30 p.m. Ward 1 NAB - City Hall 1 E 1st Street Reno, NV
  • September 9th at 5:30 p.m. Ward 5 NAB - City Hall 1 E 1st Street Reno, NV
  • September 16th at 5:30 p.m. Ward 2 NAB - Moana Nursery 1190 W Moana Ln Reno, NV
  • September 18th at 6:00 p.m. Ward 4 NAB -  Stead Airport 4895 Texas Ave Reno, NV
  • October 14th at 12:00 p.m.: Virtual stakeholder meeting https://youtu.be/NaO8lLsHmrQ
  • October 20th at 5:00 p.m.: Virtual stakeholder meeting https://youtu.be/k8jYHOXjps8
Please reach out to Grace Mackedon at Mackedong@reno.gov for any questions.

Live Entertainment Community Engagement Process

The City is inviting community input to help improve local Codes and regulations on live entertainment, with the goal of both supporting business vitality and protecting the well-being of residents. City staff held three virtual workshops to garner input regarding live entertainment regulations. The presentation is linked for reference and provides additional detail regarding the discussion at the meetings. A recording of each meeting is also provided below. A community survey (linked) is also currently open to gather feedback.  

Virtual Meeting Dates (recordings to follow):

Additional questions can be sent to Angela Fuss at FussA@Reno.gov.

Background:   Over the years, the regulations on live entertainment have changed, resulting in many of the existing bars/nightclubs to have unrestricted live entertainment (singing, dancing, karaoke, etc.), while other newer bars/nightclubs have separate regulations that were approved through a Conditional Use Permit that are unique to that particular location. With so many different and inconsistent regulations, it is very difficult to enforce the rules that have been created for each establishment and changed over time.  

At the June 11, 2025, City Council meeting, staff presented information on existing Zoning Code standards related to live entertainment activities (singing, dancing, trivia night, karaoke, etc.). As a part of the presentation, staff highlighted concerns expressed from bar operators and businesses that want to see more flexibility around the live entertainment regulations. Staff also shared feedback heard by residents living in the downtown/midtown area related to excessive noise from crowds, bars, night clubs, outdoor concerts, stereos, vehicles/motorcycles, and generally intoxicated individuals.  

Council provided direction for staff to continue gathering community feedback before moving forward with any potential changes to the Code. Specific topics of interest that we are looking for feedback on include:

  • Current Code requires all live entertainment after 11 p.m. to go through a Conditional Use Permit process.  Should that requirement be deleted, modified or unchanged? 
  • The City currently requires a Security Plan for all businesses that do live entertainment after 11 p.m.   Should the Security Plan requirements be different, depending on the type of business operating? 
  • Should the City create stricter enforcement for the bad operators, which could result in loss of a Cabaret License and the ability to do live entertainment? 
  • Are there specific things in the live entertainment regulations that are working well? 
  • Are there specific things in the live entertainment regulations that need to be changed? 

Next Steps: This initial outreach process is intended to collect community feedback.  The information will then be shared at a future City Council meeting and staff will seek direction on next steps, including whether to initiate a change to the Zoning Code regulations. 

For more information on the current zoning code regulations, please refer to the Title 18 Zoning Code link here: Title 18 Zoning Code where you will find the Live Entertainment standards in Section 18.03.405(k), starting on page 208 of the document. 

Contact Angela Fuss at FussA@Reno.Gov for more information.

The sign regulations in Title 18 were updated to provide clearer, more consistent regulations for on-premise signage.

Updates to the Sign Code

Feedback received from the public engagement process helped to shape the ordinance that was approved by City Council on June 4, 2025.

Previous Processes and Information

Second Proposed Draft

Following extensive outreach and engagement in the Fall of 2024, staff drafted a second version of proposed amendments to the sign regulations found in Title 18, based on the feedback received. City Planning Staff sought community feedback on changes to the Sign Code. 

Virtual stakeholder meetings were held to review the proposed changes and elicit feedback. Recordings of the presentation, engagement, and feedback received is available using the links below. 

First Proposed Draft

Stakeholder outreach began in the Fall 2023. Staff and a consultant took the feedback received and drafted proposed changed to the sign code. The first public draft of the proposed amendments can be found as follows:  

Previous Stakeholder and Public Engagement

Public stakeholder meetings were held on the last week of September. A recording of each meeting, which includes the presentation provided by staff, can be found below.

The Planning Commission reviewed the item at the October 16th, 2024, meeting. See the Planning Commission staff report and the video of the Planning Commission meeting for more information. The City Council also reviewed the changes on December 4th, 2024. The staff report and video of the City Council meeting can be accessed here.  

Downtown Business Stakeholder Meetings

While the Sign Ordinance update is a broader review of sign regulations throughout the entire City, we wanted to specifically get feedback from the Downtown Reno businesses.  This is everything related to allowances for square footage of signs, height of signs, digital signs and other sign related regulations.

Three separate virtual meetings were held in November to share information regarding what the sign code allows today, what the proposed changes are, and open up the conversation for stakeholders to provide comment, discussion, and feedback. The recordings of each meetings are accessible using the following links:

Where are we at in the Review Process for the Sign Ordinance?

A series of sign stakeholder meetings were held in 2023, to determine what areas needed to be updated. Staff worked with the sign consultant and prepared a redline version of those changes. Additional stakeholder meetings were held in September 2024 to go over the proposed changes and seek feedback from the community. Staff presented the draft redline changes to the Reno Planning Commission in October, held additional stakeholder meetings specific to Downtown Businesses, and presented the draft to the City Council in December. These meetings are intended to gain feedback. A final draft ordinance is being prepared and presented to stakeholders, Planning Commission and City Council starting in the Spring of 2025 for a formal recommendation and ordinance adoption.

What Changes are Proposed to the Sign Regulations Impacting Downtown Businesses?

For the last 20 years, ALL businesses within the Downtown Entertainment Zoning District boundary have had unlimited signage. Similarly, all casinos and any businesses zoned Hotel Casino (HC) have also shared in having unlimited signage. This has been allowed in the Zoning Code since 2005. The Zoning Code changed in 2021, and that boundary was expanded to include additional businesses anywhere within the Gaming Overlay boundary. The Gaming Overlay boundary includes all areas within the City of Reno that allow for casino’s, consisting of approximately 2,000 acres of property that stretches from Verdi to Downtown to the Airport to the Summit Sierra/Shayden Summit Mall area.

Staff previously proposed to scale that back and reduce the unlimited signage to only businesses located within the Mixed-Use Downtown Entertainment Zoning District AND all legally established non-restricted gaming (i.e. Casinos), consistent with previous allowances.

Based on feedback received, the second public draft of proposed amendments allows for the unlimited signage to only be applicable to nonrestricted gaming facilities. The Mixed-Downtown Entertainment District will now follow the same sign regulations as all other Urban Districts. 

What Changes are Proposed to the Sign Regulations Impacting Casinos?

No changes are proposed to sign regulations impacting casinos. Casinos will maintain the same regulations they have had for the past 20 years.

What Areas of the Sign Code are not Changing?

The majority of the Sign Code is being left it its current state. Areas that are NOT changing include:

  • Billboards (off-premise) sign regulations
  • Regulations of digital/animated signs (aside from proposed school allowances)
  • Regulations on digital sign brightness levels (i.e. nits)

Related Resources

Signs Assessment

Please email Lauren Knox to be added to the zoning code update stakeholder list.