Spotlight on Zoning Practice
What to Do When the Map Doesn’t Match the Text
The core components of local zoning are a text document that establishes the rules for land use and development within a jurisdiction and a map that clarifies the spatial application of those rules across that jurisdiction. Ideally, every zoning district displayed on the map has a clear, corresponding, set of rules in the text, and every decision to change district boundaries triggers a quick map update. But what happens when reality falls short of the ideal?
As Jonah Pellecchia and Melissa Hayashida note in the October issue of Zoning Practice, "Eliminating Map-to-Text Discrepancies," mismatches between the text and map of a local zoning system can erode public trust and, in extreme cases, deprive residents of their due process rights. While working on the National Zoning Atlas, Pellecchia and Hayashida found evidence of various mismatches, suggesting that problems may be common and widespread. Fortunately, most of these problems have straightforward fixes.
Trust Starts With Timeliness and Transparency
Many (if not most) cities, towns, and counties share some version of their zoning map online. It's reasonable to expect that it is this map that most residents, current and prospective business owners, and real estate developers are looking at whenever they start thinking about buying or selling property or initiating some land use or development project. In practice, though, these online static or interactive maps are seldom the "official" zoning map, and in some jurisdictions, updates to public-facing "unofficial" maps may slip through the cracks.
While having an up-to-date official zoning map somewhere in city hall may technically satisfy legal requirements, Pellecchia and Hayashida point out that having a regularly updated, clearly labeled, and accurate public-facing map is an essential precondition for building trust in local planning and land use decision-making processes. Whenever possible, the zoning text should clearly identify a public-facing, online, version of the map as the official map, and users should always be able to see when the map was last updated easily.
Mistakes Can Happen But Are Fixable
Zoning is complicated, and it's not surprising that mistakes do happen from time to time. Pellechia and Hayashida recommend periodic reviews to catch clerical errors. These reviews should not only compare the map to the text but also include a review of all recent legislative zoning actions to catch uncodified ordinances.
Perhaps the best way for planners to help minimize mistakes is to carefully document all decisions that apply zoning designations to specific parcels of land. For example, Pellechia and Hayashida suggest including ordinance numbers in the attribute table for the jurisdiction's official GIS zoning data.
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