Gallatin unveils public draft of zoning code update; 30-day public review opens

Gallatin City Planner Brian Rose presented the public draft of the city’s new zoning code, called ZOCCO, at a public meeting Wednesday evening and said the document will be posted online for a 30-day public review period that opens tomorrow.

The draft is the product of roughly 3½ years of work by city staff and consultants from Town Planning and Urban Design Collaborative (TPUDC). ‘‘This is our public draft presentation of ZOCCO, which is our zoning code,’’ Brian Rose said. TPUDC principal Brian Wright and zoning attorney Bill Wright walked attendees through the ordinance’s structure and major changes.

The draft replaces much of Gallatin’s current zoning framework with ‘‘character districts’’ organized from rural to urban (Bill Wright said there are 14 districts in the draft). The code groups rules by district and adds standards for building frontage, public frontage (curb-to-lot-line), civic open space types, block perimeter, street types, and parking. The consultants described the code as intented to implement Gallatin’s comprehensive plan (Plan Gallatin) and to guide new development toward more walkable, mixed-use patterns.

Why it matters: the draft would change how new development is designed and reviewed in Gallatin. Consultants repeatedly emphasized that projects already entitled under the old code will generally proceed under existing approvals; new development applications filed after adoption would follow the…