Development Activity

A total of 26 board action cases that went before the Planning & Zoning Commission in 2020 were approved. Although this was the lowest total number of cases in the past five years, the number of zoning map amendments was similar to previous years. As shown in the following chart, the 22 approved zoning map amendments in 2020 were only one less than in 2019 and the same number as 2018. The drop in total board action cases approved was due primarily to the lack of special use permits, land use plan amendments, and street abandonments this past year. This can be attributed in part to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, but there has also been an overall decrease in these types of cases over the past couple of years. The updated Development Ordinance that went into effect at the beginning of 2017 allows a broader range of uses in many of the zoning districts, which means fewer zoning map amendments are necessary, and by extension fewer special use permits and land use plan amendments. However, it also spurred a multiyear comprehensive effort to remove improper or obsolete zoning districts that were out of sync with existing land uses and land use policy, which explains in part the relative consistency of zoning map amendments. In addition, street abandonment cases have dropped over the past five years as a project to identify rights-of-way suitable for abandonment has largely concluded.