Maricopa County to pursue overhaul of zoning ordinance with aggressive seven-month schedule

Maricopa County planning staff briefed the Planning and Zoning Commission on an overhaul of the county zoning ordinance, saying the effort aims to make the code easier to use, address modern land uses and streamline processes that frequently generate repeat requests.

Ron (planning staff) told the commission the Maricopa County Zoning Ordinance, originally adopted in 1969 and amended many times, is the county's primary regulatory document for land uses and development and that staff contracted Matrix Design Group to assist with the update. "The ordinance... regulates land uses and development, essentially tries to encourage development that's compatible with adjacent land uses," Ron said.

Staff said the update grew out of an internal review and that frequent amendments (more than 70 in the past 15 years, staff estimated) signaled a need to modernize the code. The stated goals include reformatting the ordinance to improve usability with tables and graphics, updating development standards (setbacks, heights, lot coverage), revising parking standards for uses such as warehouses, and examining whether some approvals currently requiring public hearings could instead be handled administratively.

Timeline and process: staff described an "aggressive" schedule to produce a draft within roughly seven months. The update team has formed a task force (including the chair and vice chair), will hold public stakeholder meetings in June and August, and expects to hold two public hearings in November and December. Staff asked commissioners and the public to submit suggestions via email and said a draft code and supporting website materials will be posted as the work proceeds.

Commissioner discussion included suggestions about use permits and housing definitions. Commissioner Millhaven said she did not understand why use permits require a public hearing when proposed conditions are clear and suggested that some use permits might be converted to administrative approvals. Commissioner Millhaven also said multifamily housing can be a different and potentially incompatible use relative to single-family zoning and suggested exploring whether multifamily projects should be defined and regulated as commercial in some cases.

Staff said the task force is focusing on the special-use permits and identifying common requests that could become standards in the base zoning districts to reduce the frequency of variance or special-request applications. Matrix Design Group is under contract and staff said they aim to present a draft for public review by fall before formal hearings.

No formal action was taken at the meeting. Staff encouraged commissioners to submit ideas via email and to review materials when posted online.