Skip to code content (skip section selection)
Compare to:
Albuquerque Overview
Albuquerque Code of Ordinances
Charter of the City of Albuquerque
Administrative Instructions
Albuquerque Table of Resolutions
Albuquerque Code of Resolutions
Integrated Development Code
Personnel Rules and Regulations
A
Abut
To touch or share a property line.
Access
A way or means of approach to provide vehicular or pedestrian physical entrance to a property.
Accessory Building
A building detached from and, except in the case of agricultural support buildings like barns in the R-A zone district, smaller than the primary building on the same lot. The use of an accessory building shall be subordinate and customarily incidental to the primary use of the lot. See also Building.
Accessory Dwelling Unit
See Dwelling Definitions and Measurement Definitions.
Accessory Use
See Use Definitions.
Accessory Structure
A structure detached from and located on the same lot as a primary building, customarily used with and clearly incidental and subordinate to the primary building or use. Accessory structures include but are not limited to shade structures such as covered patios, gazeboes, pergolas, ramadas, or similar roofed structures. Above-ground swimming pools are not considered accessory structures for the purposes of this IDO. See also Building and Structure.
Acequia
An irrigation ditch operated and maintained by the MRGCD or a community acequia association. See also Irrigation Facility.
Activity Center
See Center and Corridor Definitions.
Adjacent
Those properties that are abutting or separated only by a street, alley, trail, or utility easement, whether public or private. See also Alley, Multi-use Trail, Private Way, Right-of-way, and Street.
Adult or Child Day Care Facility
A facility other than an occupied residence that provides care for more than 12 individual adults or children during the day. For the purposes of this IDO, the City regulates child care facilities that require a license from the state. This use includes pre-schools. This use does not include overnight care. See also Family Home Day Care, Family Care Facility, Community Residential Facility, and Group Home.
Adult Entertainment
An establishment such as an auditorium, bar, cabaret, concert hall, nightclub, restaurant, theater, or other commercial establishment, other than an adult retail establishment, that provides amusement or entertainment featuring 1 or more of the following:
   1.   A live performance, act, or escort service distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on the depiction, description, exposure, or representation of specified anatomical areas or the conduct or simulation of specified sexual activities.
   2.   Audio or video displays, computer displays, films, motion pictures, slides or other visual representations or recordings characterized or distinguished by an emphasis on the depiction, description, exposure or representation of specified anatomical areas or the conduct or simulation of specified sexual activities.
For the purposes of this IDO, adult entertainment is considered a primary use, regardless of the use, area, or purpose of any other primary uses on the same premises. See also Adult Retail, Specified Anatomical Areas, and Specified Sexual Activities.
Adult Retail
See Retail Definitions.
Agricultural Sales Stand
A structure for the retail sale of agricultural products raised on the same premises. See also Building and Home Improvement Materials Store, Community Garden, Farmers' Market, General Agriculture, Nursery, and Seasonal Outdoor Sales.
Alteration
Where used associated with a Historic Protection Overlay Zone, see Historic Protection Overlay (HPO) Zone Definitions.
Airport
The area of land used or intended to be used for the landing and takeoff of aircraft, passenger and cargo loading areas, and related uses.
Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority (AMAFCA)
The political subdivision of the State of New Mexico established pursuant to Article 72-16 NMSA 1978 with specific responsibility for flooding problems in the greater Albuquerque area.
Alley
A public right-of-way or private way, or a part thereof, primarily devoted to vehicular use and providing secondary access to abutting property or primary vehicular access to residential properties, minimizing or eliminating the need for driveway or drive aisle access to the street. For the purposes of access, alleys are considered a type of street. See also Private Way, Right-of-way, and Street.
Allowable Use
See Use Definitions.
Amendment
Any repeal, modification, or addition to a regulation; any new regulation; any change in the number, shape, boundary, or area of any zone district or Overlay zone; or any repeal or abolition of any map, part thereof, or addition thereto.
Amphitheater
A covered or uncovered open-air area or structure suitable for musical or theatrical performances, performing arts, or sporting events with tiers of seats, benches, or berms with seating capacity for less than 1,000 people. See also Auditorium and Stadium.
Animal Keeping
The keeping of animals as allowed by Article 9-2 of ROA 1994 (Humane and Ethical Animal Rules and Treatment [HEART]).
Animated Sign
See Sign Definitions.
Arcade
See Building Frontage Types.
Archaeological Definitions
Archaeological Resource
Material remains of past human activity and life that are of archaeological interest, including but not limited to pottery, basketry, bottles, weapon projectiles, tools, structures or portions of structures, pit houses, rock paintings, rock carvings, intaglios, graves, human skeletal materials, or any portion or piece of any of the foregoing items. Non-fossilized and fossilized paleontological specimens, or any portion or piece thereof, shall not be considered archaeological resources unless found in an archaeological context. No item shall be treated as an archaeological resource unless such item is at least 75 years old. Material remains that are structures may be considered for further review and protection as a landmark site or structure.
Significant Archaeological Site
A geographic location that contains an archaeological resource likely, as determined by the City Archaeologist, to yield information important to the prehistory or history of the Albuquerque area.
Architecturally Integrated Wireless Telecommunications Facility (WTF)
See Wireless Telecommunications Facility Definitions.
Area of Change
An area designated as an Area of Change in the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Comprehensive Plan (ABC Comp Plan), as amended, where growth and development are encouraged, primarily in Centers other than Old Town, Corridors other than Commuter Corridors, Master Development Plan areas, planned communities, and Metropolitan Redevelopment Areas.
Area of Consistency
An area designated as an Area of Consistency in the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Comprehensive Plan (ABC Comp Plan), as amended, where development must reinforce the character and intensity of existing development.
Arroyo
See Sensitive Lands Definitions. See also Major Arroyo.
Arroyo, Major
See Major Arroyo.
Art Gallery
A building, room, or series of rooms where works of art are exhibited for display or sale.
Arterial Street
See Street Definitions.
Artisan Manufacturing
See Manufacturing Definitions.
Assisted Living Facility
A facility designed to provide housing, supportive services, personalized assistance, and health care services to respond to individuals who need help with activities of daily living or memory care services, but not including skilled nursing care. Such facilities may include separate bedrooms or living quarters, a commercial or private kitchen, shared dining facilities, and recreational activities. See also Nursing Home, Independent Living Facility, and Other Use Accessory to a Residential Primary Use.
Auditorium
A hall or seating area, generally enclosed, where an audience views a musical or theatrical performance, concert, sporting, or other entertainment event, including but not limited to a conference center. See also Adult Entertainment.
Automated Teller Machine (ATM)
An electronically operated device used to conduct financial transactions on-site by means of direct computerized access.