At the March 25, 2025 Planning meeting, zoning was discussed at length. The county’s planner, Kathryn Baldwin, has proposed to review zones A-1, R-1 and R-2. She said the county needs to work on its Zoning Resolutions. Many thanks to Ms. Baldwin for stating something so needed by this county!
If anyone can get this process started, it is her. She has extensive knowledge about zoning, including the law and what is done in other counties. We all need to support her in her efforts.
In addition, Ms. Baldwin is working on some changes to Subdivision Regulations.
The county did a Long Range Planning survey in 2024. One of the clear messages that came from the survey was the residents of the county want the county to retain its rural feel. And, contrary to what some will claim, the majority of the respondents to the survey were long-term residents of the county. While the number of responses to the survey was less than 2,000 of the 57,000 residents, the percentage of participation was the highest of any other survey performed by company.
Our elected and appointed representatives need to listen to the constituents who took the time to respond.
And they should all support Ms. Baldwin’s efforts to ‘fix’ our zoning. Incidentally, that is the task County Commissioners assigned to the Regional Planning Commission at the January 17, 2023 meeting.