Frequently Asked Questions
What is Planning & Zoning?
Elements characteristic of city planning include:
| general plans that summarize the objectives of (and restraints on) land development; |
| zoning and subdivision controls that specify permissible land uses, densities, and requirements for streets, utility services, and other improvements; |
| plans for traffic flow and public transportation; |
| strategies for economic revitalization of depressed urban and rural areas; |
| strategies for supportive action to help disadvantaged social groups; and |
| guidelines for environmental protection and preservation of scarce resources. |
Who Plans?
It is the planning commission which has the statutory authority to engage in planning, platting, and zoning. To establish a planning commission the city council must first pass an ordinance creating the planning commission. Then the mayor appoints a minimum of five residents to serve on the planning commission.Normally a planning commission term runs for three years, however, the first planning commission created in a municipality will consist of members serving different lengths of time. In this way, as the first commission members finish their terms and new members are appointed, there will be experienced planning commission members who can help the newcomers learn about the planning commission and its duties.
What are the duties of the Planning Commission?
In its advisory capacity the planning commission can recommend certain planning ordinances to the council which can enact those recommendations into law. Once these ordinances are enacted into law, responsibility for implementing them may then shift back to the planning commission thereby giving the commission regulatory duties.The commission shall prepare and recommend to the council:
| a comprehensive plan consisting of maps and related texts for the systematic development of the city; |
| a zoning ordinance to implement the plan; |
| a subdivision ordinance; |
| the official map of the borough; and |
| modifications to the documents specified above. |
In the regulatory capacity the planning commission shall:
| act as the platting board; |
| act upon requests for variances; |
| act upon requests for conditional uses. |
What is the Comprehensive Plan?
The comprehensive plan is a compilation of policy statements, goals, standards and maps for guiding the physical, social and economic development, both private and public, of the borough, and may include, but is not limited to, the following: statements of policies, goals, standards, and land use plan, a community facilities plan, a transportation plan, and recommendations for plan implementation.At least once every five years the planning commission must review the comprehensive plan and make recommendations on it to the council.
What is Zoning?
Zoning is a tool for implementing the comprehensive plan. Zoning regulations are designed to: | provide for orderly development; |
| lessen street congestion; |
| promote fire safety and public order; |
| protect the public health and general welfare; |
| prevent overcrowding; |
| stimulate systematic development of transportation, water, sewer, school, park and other public facilities. |
Zoning is directed at the way land is used, at building size, lotline setbacks and so on. Districts within a municipality are defined and restrictions are placed on what can be done with or on the land within these districts. Subdivision regulations control the size and arrangement of lots, street, and utilities.