At the Planning Commission meeting on September 16, 2008, at which the entirety of City Council was also in attendance, there was consensus that the City should begin to evaluate elements of its zoning code, including both the text of the code and the zoning map.
The Community Development Director has worked with a member of the Planning Commission to come up with a public process to use to engage the community as the City works on updating the Zoning Code. This web site is one of the first steps in this process.
Comprehensive Zoning Code Review — Zoning may not be the most exciting aspect of City government but after watching the community wrestle with different development project proposals I don’t think we can afford to dismiss its importance. Technically it’s our City Zoning Code that sets the table for what we want to happen in our community.
The City’s Community Development Director, Gary Locke, and his staff have begun what will likely be a multi-year effort to review and possibly re-write the City’s Zoning Code. Zoning Code review is a big piece of pie so the staff is trying to break it down into bite size pieces. They’ve started a series of joint public meetings that will likely take us well into 2009 before we come up with a good sense of how well the Zoning Code serves the community’s goals and how we can make it better.
I think most people understand how zoning works and why it matters but like many things the devil is in the details. Unfortunately zoning speaks a legal language that doesn’t always translate all that well into common language so must of us glaze over with all the meets and bounds verbage. So the staff is trying to translate the technical jargon into its practical components.
Below are the links to follow the zoning review process:
City Government Web Link for Meeting Agenda and Minutes
CONTACT INFORMATION
Gary Locke, Community Development Director
City of Kent Community Development Department
930 Overholt Road, Kent, OH 44240
330-678-8108
330-678-8030 fax
EMAIL: Locke@kent-ohio.org
