The Planning Services Division of Community Development oversees the County’s land use planning functions. These functions include long-range planning, development review, public assistance, and zoning inspection and compliance.
The County’s Comprehensive Master Plan (CMP) is the County’s long-range planning document. The CMP is intended to reflect the community’s vision and values for various land use-related issues over the 20-year horizon. In addition to several plan maps, the CMP includes a variety of goals and policies for urban and rural development, parks and open space, natural resources, transportation, water, and other community services. The CMP is linked to the approval criteria within the County’s Zoning and Subdivision Resolutions, and along with other criteria, is considered by the Board of County Commissioners in making decisions on land use applications.
Planning Services also manages the land use application process for the County and provides several tools to track specific development proposals, including important dates for public comments and public hearings. As part of the County’s transparent process, residents can access County plans, regulations, and development applications through the Project Records Online (PRO) system.
Planning Services offers free, in-depth pre-submittal meetings with any person considering a change to a property’s land use or lotting patterns. Planners, engineers, and building inspectors attend the presubmittal meeting and are prepared to discuss the steps in the land use application process, required plans and technical studies, code-required improvements, and timeframe estimates. You can schedule a pre-submittal meeting online, as well as view various land use application guides for the different application types. Phone-call or walk-in inquiries are always welcome to discuss any planning or land use issue.
Planning Services provides staff support to both the Planning Commission and Board of Adjustment. The Planning Commission adopts the CMP, holds public hearings on many kinds of land use applications on which it makes formal recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners. The Board of Adjustment hears requests for certain types of zoning standards, as well as appeals to interpretations and administrative decisions made by the Director of Community Development.
