The Town of Lapel is divided into the following districts:
- Agriculture Districts, designated "A", are established to include substantial areas to preserve and protect the decreasing supply of prime agricultural land where little or no urbanization has occurred or is likely to occur in the near future. This district also is established to control the indiscriminate infiltration of urban development in agricultural areas which adversely affects agricultural operators.
- Conservation Districts, designated "C-1" is limited to agricultural, recreational, and certain other open land uses. Residential and related uses may be permitted if approved by the Commission. The purpose of this district is to prevent intensive development of land that is unsuitable for development because of topography, soil condition, periodic flooding, or other natural features.
- Flood Plan Districts, designated "FP" are established to include lowland areas adjacent to lakes and ponds, and areas that are within the flood plains of rivers or creeks and are thus subject to inundation and damage from flood waters up to the elevation of the regulatory flood.
- Residence Districts, designated "R1", are established to include areas for low density single-family residences with a density of 4 dwelling units or less per gross acre.
- Residence Districts, designated "R2", are established to include areas for medium density single-family residences with a density of 6 dwelling units or less per gross acre.
- Residence Districts, designated "R3", are established to include areas for relatively high density single-family, two-family, and multi-family residential development with a density of 12 dwelling units or less per gross acre.
- Highway Service Districts, designated "HS", are established to include areas that are close to interstate interchanges and intersections of two state highways and are appropriate to the limited shopping and service needs of those locations.
- Historical Districts, designated "H" are established to include a contiguous district that is a geographically defined area wherein the properties are unified by past events, by physical development, or by plan. A contiguous district often includes properties that are not considered worthy of National Register status, such buildings are identified as "non-contributing". These buildings may be considered as contributing to the district if they are not by themselves outstanding but add to the district's sense of time and place or historical development.
- Local Business Districts, designated "LB" are established to include areas that are close to residential areas and appropriate to meeting their shopping and service needs.
- General Business Districts, designated "GB", are established to include areas that are appropriate to all kinds of business and services.
- Central Business District, designated "CB", is established to include the Lapel's core business area. The purpose of the district is to encourage expansion and renewal in the historic core business area of the community. A variety of business, institutional, public, quasi-public, cultural, residential, and other related uses are encouraged to provide the mix of activities necessary for a truly urban district.
- Office Districts, designated "OD", are established to include office park facilities, and related office and business services.
- Industrial Districts, designated "I", are established to include most of the existing industrial facilities and areas best suited for future industrial use because of location, accessibility and other conditions. The districts shall be defined as follows:
- Light Industrial (I-1); the purpose of the district is to encourage the development of manufacturing and wholesale business establishments which are clean, quiet, and free of hazardous or objectionable elements such as noise, odor, dust, smoke, or glare; operate entirely within enclosed structures and generate little industrial traffic. Research activities are encouraged. The I-1 district is designed to act as a transitional use between heavy industrial uses and other less intense business and residential uses.
- Heavy Industrial (I-2); the purpose of the district is to encourage the development of major manufacturing, processing, warehousing, and major research and testing operations. These activities require extensive community facilities, and reasonable access to arterial highways; they may have extensive open storage and service areas, generate heavy traffic but shall be prohibited if they create nuisances beyond the limitations set by the Commission.
- Extractive Industrial (I-3); the purpose of the district is to provide land for the mining, processing, and storage of mineral resources. This district is designed to assure that these resources be properly managed and all land be reclaimed as not to create a hazard or nuisance which either immediately or in the future adversely affects the health, safety, or general welfare of the community.
- Planned Development Districts, designated "PD-R", "PD-C", "PD-I", "PD-REC", and "PD-E" are established for the purposes and under the conditions set forth in Section 6 hereof.