With the updated Comprehensive Plan in place, the Jefferson County Planning Commission is turning to the even bigger task of updating the county’s Zoning Ordinance and Subdivision Regulations.
Where the Comprehensive Plan provides broad guidance for future growth throughout the county, the Zoning Ordinance provides the specific rules that apply to each property in the county and the Subdivision Regulations govern the process and approvals required for development projects.
During the last couple of meetings, the Planning Commission has scheduled several updates that it will discuss over the next few months — a process that will involve staff proposals, review by the Commission, and public hearings. You can expect opportunities for public comment on the following topics at the July 8 and August 12 Planning Commission meetings (The Observer will publish specific details once they are finalized):
- Updates to the Zoning Ordinance for industrial solar projects [PDF – May 13 2025 draft]
- Addition to the Zoning Ordinance to regulate data centers [PDF – May 13 2025 draft]
- Updates to the Subdivision Regulation regarding requirements for archeological surveys
- Addition of a new “Rural Residential” district in the Zoning Ordinance [PDF – Jun 10 2025 draft]
While it tackles these topics, the Planning Commission also continues to debate how much public comment it wants to hear. Several years ago, during the discussions on the solar zoning ordinance, the Planning Commission eliminated the general public comment period at its meetings in favor of item-specific comment periods.
At its June 10 meeting this week, the Commission asked the Planning staff to update the policies that govern how the Commission conducts public hearings. Along with consolidating several policies into a single document, the Commission asked the staff to include a 90 minute overall limit per agenda item for public comment.
The Jefferson County Foundation contacted The Observer after the meeting to note its objection to the Planning Commission’s plan, stating that “In attempting to limit public hearings and public workshops to a particular time limit, through a simple policy change the Planning Commission has usurped the processes — including public hearings and approval by the elected county commission — necessary to change ordinances, regulations, or bylaws, and acted outside the four corners of its authority set by the Zoning Ordinance and Subdivision Regulations.”
The proposed policy change proposal will likely be on the agenda for the July 8 Planning Commission, but it is unclear whether the public will be allowed to comment on the topic at that meeting.
By Steve Pearson