COMPREHENSIVE REZONING & LAND USE ORDINANCE UPDATE PORTAL
ABOUT
Making the Community's Vision for Kent County a Reality
The Department of Planning, Housing, and Zoning is excited to announce that Kent County has embarked on a new initiative to update the Land Use Ordinance (LUO) for the unincorporated areas of the County. The LUO is one of the tools that the County uses to implement its Comprehensive Plan. It guides how development occurs in the unincorporated areas of the County ensuring land uses are compatible and preserve the character of the community.
The current Land Use Ordinance was adopted on December 3, 2002, and following adoption of amendments required by the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Commission, it became effective on October 3, 2003. Although the LUO has been amended over the years, it hasn’t been comprehensively reviewed since its adoption. The Comprehensive Rezoning and Update (CRU) process will include a full review of all LUO text and potential evaluations of every property located in Kent County, but not in any Towns.
The goal of this project is to modernize and update the zoning text and zoning map.
What is the Community's Role?
The updated Zoning Code will reflect the vision for the Kent County community. The Code will also be user friendly, providing easy to understand text and graphics for everyday use. To achieve this, the community will be involved throughout the process, providing input and guidance on the development of the code through meetings and online opportunities. Check out the tabs above to see how you can get involved, view the latest documents, and contact us with any questions or concerns.
What can I do right now?
During a comprehensive rezoning, any citizen can request changes to the text of the Land Use Ordinance and any property owner can request that their property be rezoned to a different district. Under the "Public Input" tab (above), there is a link to an online form that you can use to request text or map changes.
Requests for text changes will be accepted until October 31, 2021. At this time, a submission deadline for mapping requests has not been set.
Still have Questions?
Send email to compzone@kentgov.org or call 410-778-7423 (voice/relay).
RESOURCES
Throughout the process, draft documents, reports and other resources will be available to view and download.
Still have Questions?
Send email to compzone@kentgov.org or call 410-778-7423 (voice/relay).
Schedules
Summary Schedule of Process, v. 11 (July 14, 2021
Topical Calendar through October 2021
Summary Schedule of Process, v. 10 (January 5, 2021)
Summary Schedule of Process, v. 9 (October 29, 2020)
Summary Schedule of Process, v. 8 (October 13, 2020)
Summary Schedule of Process, v. 7 (September 30, 2020)
Summary Schedule of Process, v. 6 (September 17, 2020)
Summary Schedule of Process, v.5
Summary Schedule of Process, v.4
Summary Schedule of Process, v.3
Forum Documents
First Forum - Opening Comments (August 18, 2020)
First Forum - Summary (posted September 4, 2020)
Second Forum - Presentation (posted April 28, 2021)
Consultant Deliverables
DRAFT Condensed LUO with initial response by ZoneCo in Track Changes
DRAFT Condensed Land Use Ordinance (current text in new format)
DRAFT Commerce District Mock Up
DRAFT Residential Neighborhood District Mock Up
Proposed Structural Outline for Ordinance
Presentation to Task Force for December 9, 2020 Meeting
Diagnostic Report from Calfee Zoning (reformatted version posted 12/11/20)
Scope of Work from contract with Calfee Zoning
PUBLIC INPUT
If you wish to request a rezoning (map change) of your property, this link will take you to a form that you may complete and submit with your request.
https://forms.office.com/g/XGEUHBkpDA
There is no fee to request changes. Please contact our office if you wish to recieve a paper copy of the form.
Here's a link to the County's interactive parcel viewer if you want to check out the current zoning map:
Kent Parcel Viewer (will open in a new window)
Still have Questions?
Send email to compzone@kentgov.org or call 410-778-7423 (voice/relay).
Task Force
The Task Force appointed by the County Commissioners meets the second and fourth Wednesday of the month at 6 pm.
The public may view live meetings at https://www.kentcounty.com/youtube-live
Archived videos may be viewed on the Kent County Government YouTube channel
Information to call into the meeting or participate in person may be found in the agenda.
Survey to assess the interest of Task Force members to discuss text amendments.(posted 7/6/21)
Agendas
December 8, 2021 (posted 12/3/21)
November 10, 2021 (posted 11/5/21)
October 27, 2021 (posted 10/22/21)
October 13, 2021 (posted 10/8/21)
September 22, 2021 (posted 9/17/21)
September 8, 2021 (posted 9/3/21)
August 25, 2021 (posted 8/20/21)
August 11, 2021 (posted 8/6/21)
July 28, 2021 (posted 7/23/21)
Staff reports for agenda items
July 14, 2021 (posted 7/9/21)
Staff reports for agenda items
June 23, 2021 (posted 6/18/21)
Economic Developement Plan and Staff reports for agenda items (posted 6/18/21)
June 9, 2021 - (posted 6/3/21)
June 9, 2021, Staff reports for agenda items (updated 6/8/21)
May 26, 2021 (posted 5/21/21)
May 26, 2021, Staff reports for agenda items (posted 5/22/21)
May 12, 2021 (posted 5/6/21)
April 28, 2021 (posted 4/14/21)
April 14, 2021 (posted 4/9/21)
March 31, 2021 (posted 3/26/21)
March 10, 2021 (posted 3/5/21)
February 10, 2021 (posted 2/3/21)
January 14, 2021 (posted 1/9/21)
December 9, 2021 (posted 11/25/20)
Presentation from ZoneCo for 12/9/20 Task Force Meeting re: Diagnostic Report and Methodology
(See Resources Tab/Consultant Deliverables for Diagnositic Report and Scope of Work)
Agenda, 11/12/20 (posted 10/29/20)
Agenda, 10/15/20 (posted 10/09/20)
Last updated: December 3, 2021