Local zoning is the regulation of land use via police powers and legislated by local government. Zoning generally divides a municipality into districts and regulates the uses, bulk and dimensions, and often the structural and architectural designs of buildings within each district. State zoning enabling legislation (examples 1 and 2) governs how zoning is implemented locally which can limit the type of zoning tools a community may use.
Relocalizations has experience crafting zoning amendments and ordinances/bylaws for counties, cities, and towns. Zoning is specialized and requires attention to a number of levels of detail including:
In particular, attention to the political facets of zoning may be the most complicated and time-consuming. For communities that have a town meeting form of government, the cycle of approval for basic zoning amendments may be nine months or more. Assurance that this time is not wasted by not performing the essential public due diligence is crucial.
ZONING DIAGNOSTIC - Conduct a technical assessment of the zoning ordinance or bylaw. This can be a comprehensive assessment or focus on one aspect such as procedures or dimensional elements.
ZONING AMENDMENT - Develop a zoning ordinance/bylaw amendment for a specific purpose. This can include development of a provision called for in the comprehensive plan, correcting a loophole, or taking advantage of a new state program.
ZONING UPDATE - Zoning ordinances and bylaws may, from time to time, need a comprehensive update to correct errors and loopholes, address new court cases and enabling legislation amendments, new zoning tools, and meet comprehensive plan objectives. A zoning update can address these goals without creating a new document from scratch. However, if enough time has elapsed from the last time the ordinance or bylaw has been rewritten, you may want to consider a....
ZONING REWRITE - A zoning ordinance or bylaw rewrite is to start from the premise that a new bylaw is needed. This can be due to the fact that the current bylaw is so wraught with problems that starting from a new beginning point would be easier and cleaner. It can also stem from wanting to go in a new direction such as transition from a Euclidean ordinance to a form-based system.
Zoning tools are an important mechanism for allowing municipalities to shape the physical form of their community. The level of control and influence a community seeks related to physical form will determine the type of zoning tools to employ. For example:
Please contact us to set up an initial consultation to discuss what zoning tools may be right for your community.