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Staff previews zoning-code rewrite, new zoning map and changes to development-plan procedures
Summary
City planning staff previewed a major zoning-code rewrite and a new zoning map that reduces district types and aligns rules with current development patterns; staff also described procedural changes to show whole-subarea development plans and a short-term-rental chapter in the draft code.
City of Delaware planning staff presented an overview on May 7 of an upcoming zoning-code update, a new zoning map and procedural changes intended to simplify reviews and reduce nonconformities across the city.
Staff said the re-write reduces the number of zoning districts (currently about 29) to roughly 15 more meaningful districts and adjusts minimum lot sizes to match existing neighborhood patterns. The aim is to make the code easier for residents and applicants to use and to reduce the number of nonconformities.
Key changes described
Staff said the new map consolidates many existing districts: for example, most single-family districts will be consolidated into a single “residential single-family” district, and multifamily will be grouped into a residential-multifamily district. Staff said they have also created new transition-type districts, including a residential-mixed and a commercial-mixed district designed to allow small neighborhood-serving commercial uses where appropriate. As staff put it during the meeting, “We’re cutting them in half. A lot of them were very, duplicative.”
Staff emphasized that the update is not intended to downzone properties. Most parcels, staff said, will transition to an equivalent district and the draft includes provisions to avoid creating new nonconformities. Overlays and existing zoning texts would remain in force unless changed via rezoning.
Procedural changes and other items
Planning staff proposed a change to how development plans are presented: rather than submitting and reviewing many small sections of a long-running development over multiple hearings, applicants would submit an overall development plan for a subarea so the commission can see the full design up front; plats and engineering would still come in sections during construction. Staff said this will reduce repetitive reports and save limited staff time.
Staff also said the draft zoning code includes a short-term rental (STR) chapter that would permit STRs with registration and limits on the number a single owner may operate; staff said they moved away from a system that caps STRs by geography and instead plan to manage numbers through registration requirements and operational rules.
Timing and next steps
Staff said legal review of the code is underway and they expect to bring the full draft zoning code to the commission next month (June). Staff also said they will provide the draft several weeks in advance of the meeting rather than the Friday-before practice used previously, and that they expect to update the online mapping tools so parcel-level users can click to find zoning texts or prior approvals.
Why it matters
The rewrite simplifies district categories, aligns lot-size rules to existing neighborhoods, creates tools for neighborhood-serving commercial uses, clarifies overlay interactions, and adds a short-term rental framework. Staff framed the changes as intended to make the code easier to use for both residents and developers while reducing ad-hoc variances and inconsistent interpretations.
