Comprehensive Rezoning Update

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).

kc seal ZoneCo

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).

Press Releases

Press Release for First Public Forum

Schedules

Summary Schedule of Process v. 12 (April 11, 2022)

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)

Third Forum - Summary (October 27, 2021)

Consultant Deliverables

DRAFT LUO In Track Changes incorporating ZoneCo recommenations, December 2022, v.3

DRAFT LUO incorporating ZoneCo recommendations, December 2022, v.3

DRAFT LUO Comprehensive Use Table prepared by ZoneCo

DRAFT LUO in Track Changes incorporating ZoneCo recommendations, v.2

DRAFT LUO incorporating ZoneCo recommendations, v.2 (clean copy)

DRAFT Condensed LUO with initial response by ZoneCo in Track Changes, v.1

DRAFT New Sign Regulations

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

Thank you for visiting the Task Force website. The Task Force has completed its work, and the Comprehensive Rezoning process has moved to the Planning Commission for continued discussion and review. You can follow the progress of the Planning Commission by visiting its website at kentcounty.com/committees/planning. Additional notices will be published once the legislative process has begun.

Archived videos may be viewed on the Kent County Government YouTube channel

Survey to assess the interest of Task Force members to discuss text amendments.(posted 7/6/21)