Trinity County planners review Part 3 zoning updates as residents warn against overregulation

Trinity County planning staff and consultants on Thursday reviewed draft changes to Part 3 of the county zoning code, an update the county says is meant to implement the new general plan and standardize rules for site development, parking, signs, landscaping and utilities.

The study session, led by Drew Pilvani, interim planning director, and consultants from Minter Harnish, outlined a multi-year project that planners said will produce a public-review zoning ordinance and environmental analysis next year. "We are currently at phase 7 in this overall project," said Michael Gibbons, project manager with Minter Harnish. He told the commission the team expects a public-review draft of the zoning ordinance and associated environmental review in 2026 and that community workshops are scheduled Sept. 15—.

The draft Part 3 text presented by project planner Nikki Zanchetta reorders and clarifies dozens of existing provisions; Zanchetta said most edits to date are formatting and consistency changes rather than new substantive standards. "A majority of the revisions that we've made so far are very heavily on the formatting, reorganization, and just, updating of language for consistency," she said.

Still, staff and the consultant identified several substantive edits now in the draft: a clarified method for measuring building height and exceptions (chimneys, rooftop equipment), a consolidated chapter for fencing and walls with new height thresholds and materials rules, a landscaping chapter that references the State Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance, updated parking standards to align with state law and best practices, and a move of the county's sign regulations into the zoning code with cross-checks for federal and state content…