James City County to reorganize zoning ordinance, add interactive mapping; no substantive changes planned

James City County planning staff announced on June 4, 2025 that the county will begin a comprehensive reorganization of the zoning ordinance intended to correct inconsistencies, improve readability and provide interactive, digital access to uses and maps. Planning Director Susan Stennis said the county will bring a contract to the Board of Supervisors to hire a consultant to perform the reorganization and related mapping work.

Stennis told the commission the zoning ordinance dates to March 1, 1969 and has been amended piecemeal through multiple updates; the last comprehensive updates occurred in 1985, 1999 and 2012. Staff cited examples of inconsistent terms across districts—such as grocery store versus retail food store, community recreation facility terminology, and missing home-occupation language in R-3—and said the reorganization will harmonize terms, produce a consolidated uses table and aim to publish an interactive code and digital zoning map. The last official zoning map was adopted in 1986; staff said the contractor may review mapping to ensure current zones are correctly displayed and could add parcel-level links to proffers and special-use-permit documents.

Stennis emphasized the project is meant as a technical reorganization, not a policy change: "There will be no substantial changes. This is strictly a reorganization, fixing some inconsistencies," she said. Commissioners asked whether other initiatives—such as revising agricultural stocking rates or reevaluating density-bonus points—would be included; Stennis said those items would require a separate initiative and would not be part of the current reorganization contract. Staff estimated the project could be completed within approximately one year and said the county hopes to improve public transparency and ease of use for residents and applicants.