Kenitra zoning plan (plan d'aménagement): which document applies and how to read it

Before buying land or designing a house in Kénitra, you need to know which zoning plan (plan d'aménagement) applies to the plot. The answer is not always simple: an old document, a revision under way and separate plans for the neighbouring municipalities.

Which zoning plan is in force in Kénitra?

The Urban Agency publishes on its website a status report of its planning documents (file dated 2023, posted online in January 2024). For the province of Kénitra, it lists 21 zoning plans and 4 rural settlement development plans (plans de développement des agglomérations rurales, PDAR) covering 18 municipalities. The main ones for the Kénitra area:

The 2021 sector plan covers the high-speed rail (LGV) station district, described by the press as a future "green district". The studies under way listed by the agency include the "PA commune de Kénitra et secteur Chelihat" (Kénitra and Mnasra), at the public inquiry and municipal deliberation stage at the end of 2023, as well as a revision of the Sidi Taibi centre plan. For Haddada, we found no published zoning plan: the municipality is included in the Greater Kénitra master plan (schéma directeur, launched in 2012) and in the master plan for the coastline between Bouknadel and Chouafaa (2011). These master plans set general guidelines, not plot-level rules.

Is a 2004 plan still applicable?

Law 12-90 sets no expiry date for the zoning itself. What lapses after ten years is the public-interest declaration (déclaration d'utilité publique) attached to land reserved for roads, facilities and green spaces (art. 28). The owner then regains control of the land, but its use must comply with the zone's designated use. Three points matter for Kénitra:

1. From the close of the public inquiry on a new plan until publication of the text approving it, no permit or subdivision that does not comply with the draft may be authorised. From that same date, the old plan ceases to apply (art. 27).
2. If the approval text is not published within twelve months of the close of the inquiry, the draft ceases to be enforceable (art. 27).
3. The status of the new plan on the date of your project must therefore be confirmed with the Urban Agency. Rely neither on rumour nor on an old copy.

Where can you consult the Kénitra zoning plan?

• The Urban Agency (agence urbaine), headquartered in Kénitra and covering the provinces of Kénitra, Sidi Kacem and Sidi Slimane. It issues the zoning information certificate and provides information on studies under way. Law 64-23, published in the Official Bulletin of 10 August 2026, provides for urban agencies to be replaced by regional urban planning and housing agencies (agences régionales de l'urbanisme et de l'habitat). It comes into force when the director general is appointed and the board of directors meets: check which office is competent.
• The municipality (commune), through its planning department, which holds the plan file and, during a public inquiry, the register of comments.
• The digital public inquiry portal presented by the agency in 2022 lets you, during an inquiry, locate a plot and read the provisions of the regulations online.

We do not publish a PDF link: the "Kénitra zoning plan regulations" files circulating on file-sharing sites are neither official nor guaranteed to be up to date.

How do you read a plot's zoning?

A zoning plan consists of a graphic document and written regulations (art. 19 and 20 of Law 12-90). For a given plot, proceed as follows:

1. Identify the zone on the graphic plan, for example a villa zone, a zone of R+n apartment buildings, a business or industrial zone. Also spot any reserved land: planned road, public facility, green space.
2. Read the zone's article in the regulations: permitted and prohibited uses, minimum lot size, height and number of storeys, building footprint or floor-area ratio, setbacks, parking.
3. Check the building line (alignement): a planned road may cut a strip off the plot.
4. Confirm in writing with the zoning information certificate (note de renseignements urbanistiques), which applies these rules to your land title.

We do not reproduce any zone rules here: they differ from one sector to another and may change with the revision under way.

What should you check before buying land in Kénitra?

• The land title (titre foncier) and any encumbrances on it.
• The zoning information certificate: zone, reserved land, building line.
• If the land is in a subdivision (lotissement), the provisional acceptance report (procès-verbal de réception provisoire) and the specifications (cahier des charges) (see our guide to land subdivision).
• Outside the area covered by a plan, the rules for a building permit in a rural area (1 ha, delimited douars).
• The budget: estimate construction with our free estimating tool, without forgetting permit fees and taxes.

Looking for land? Browse our land listings, always asking for the zoning information certificate before signing. For the next stages of your project, read our guide to the building permit in Morocco and our guide to architect fees.

CITURBAREA, a registered architect's practice (member of the Ordre des architectes) based in Kénitra, can go through the zoning information certificate with you and check the feasibility of your plot. See our page architect in Kénitra.

Frequently asked questions