Planning Commission outlines multi‑session plan to rewrite county Zoning Ordinance

Chair Victor Evans said the Planning Commission will pursue a comprehensive rewrite of the Zoning Ordinance rather than a limited code update, and proposed splitting the rewrite into discrete Articles and multiple work sessions for each section.

Evans described four component types for the new ‘Base Zoning Ordinance’ and proposed a schedule that would handle administrative articles in fewer sessions and allocate multiple work sessions for technical content such as the use matrix and use standards. Planning Director Lisa Cooper confirmed staff already possess electronic files produced by The Berkley Group and said those files will inform the rewrite; Evans said the commission recommended terminating the Berkley Group contract but at the time it had not been terminated.

The commission discussed stakeholder identification (developers, surveyors, farmers, multi‑generational landowners, Chambers of Commerce and individual landowners), public outreach methods (website postings, emails, and possible text alerts), and agreed to live stream future meetings and work sessions held in the Board Room. Commissioners also discussed scheduling to avoid November/December conflicts, holding joint sessions with the Board of Supervisors when appropriate, and the idea that the commission may send a memo recommending a moratorium on data centers to the Board of Supervisors.