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Crawford County consultant outlines purpose of zoning, ties it to comprehensive 20‑year plan
Summary
Consultant Josh Allen explained how zoning gives counties legal control over land use, described the county's proposed comprehensive plan and survey results, and said zoning is the established mechanism to manage issues including wind and solar siting, infrastructure and economic development.
Josh Allen, consultant for Crawford County and attorney with Adams Jones Law Firm, told residents that zoning is the county’s primary legal tool to control land use and said the county’s comprehensive plan will set 20‑year priorities.
“Comprehensive planning is about trying to create a 20 year plan for the community,” Allen said, describing the plan as a roadmap that covers housing, infrastructure, roads, education and public services as well as zoning. He said zoning gives the county “home rule authority” to set rules for how land is used inside county boundaries and that courts have recognized zoning as the normal regulatory means to do so.
Allen said the county currently uses three broad zoning categories—residential, agricultural and commercial—and described conditional uses, setbacks, building height limits, parking requirements and other tools counties use to control both what is allowed on a property and how structures…
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