Maricopa County begins aggressive overhaul of zoning ordinance; public hearings planned for November and December

Ron, a planning staff member with Maricopa County Planning and Development, told the commission the county is pursuing a comprehensive update of its zoning ordinance to make it more functional and easier to use.

“Maricopa County zoning ordinance is a primary regulatory document of the county, regulates land uses and development,” Ron said, adding the ordinance was originally adopted in 1969, reformatted in 2001 and has seen roughly 70 amendments in the last 15 years.

Staff said the update — led with consultant Matrix Design Group since February — will pursue clearer formatting, more graphics and tables to replace dense code text, streamlined procedures and consideration of when administrative approvals could replace public hearings. Possible substantive changes under study include parking standards, building setbacks and heights, allowances for greater heights where appropriate, and creating a new land-use table linking uses to zoning districts.

Staff described a compressed timeline. “The timeline I'd say is aggressive,” Ron said. “We have 7 months to get this done. We're working with the task force and… we will be holding public stakeholder meetings. Two are scheduled, one in June and another in August. We will eventually have two public hearings in November and December of this year.”

Commissioners and staff discussed use permits and whether some special use permits could become uses by right if they meet defined conditions. Commissioner Millhaven said he did not understand why some use permits require public hearing if conditions are met and suggested moving more approvals administratively where regulators can clearly define objective conditions. Staff and task-force members said many frequently requested adjustments, such as increased height for certain industrial designations and smaller front setbacks in residential UPDs, may be folded into base zoning standards to reduce the need for repeated use-permit hearings.

Staff asked commissioners to send ideas to staff as they refine focus topics. The county will post draft materials on a website as the ordinance rewrite proceeds and continue stakeholder outreach. Staff said the board’s direction is to seek final approval by the end of the year, which would require a draft to be published for public review in the fall.