§ 6-29-720 — Zoning districts; matters regulated; uniformity; zoning techniques.

(A) When the local planning commission has prepared and recommended and the governing body has adopted at least the land use element of the comprehensive plan as set forth in this chapter, the governing body of a municipality or county may adopt a zoning ordinance to help implement the comprehensive plan. The zoning ordinance shall create zoning districts of such number, shape, and size as the governing authority determines to be best suited to carry out the purposes of this chapter. Within each district the governing body may regulate: (1) the use of buildings, structures, and land; (2) the size, location, height, bulk, orientation, number of stories, erection, construction, reconstruction, alteration, demolition, or removal in whole or in part of buildings and other structures, including signage; (3) the density of development, use, or occupancy of buildings, structures, or land; (4) the areas and dimensions of land, water, and air space to be occupied by buildings and structures, and the size of yards, courts, and other open spaces; (5) the amount of off-street parking and loading that must be provided, and restrictions or requirements related to the entry or use of motor vehicles on the land; (6) other aspects of the site plan including, but not limited to, tree preservation, landscaping, buffers, lighting, and curb cuts; and (7) other aspects of the development and use of land or structures necessary to accomplish the purposes set forth throughout this chapter. (B) The regulations must be made in accordance with the comprehensive plan for the jurisdiction, and be made with a view to promoting the purposes set forth throughout this chapter. Except as provided in this chapter, all of these regulations must be uniform for each class or kind of building, structure, or use throughout each district, but the regulations in one district may differ from those in other districts. (C) The zoning ordinance may utilize the following or any other zoning and planning techniques for implementation of the goals specified above. Failure to specify a particular technique does not cause use of that technique to be viewed as beyond the power of the local government choosing to use it: (1) "cluster development" or the grouping of residential, commercial, or industrial uses within a subdivision or development site, permitting a reduction in the otherwise applicable lot size, while preserving substantial open space on the remainder of the parcel; (2) "floating zone" or a zone which is described in the text of a zoning ordinance but is unmapped. A property owner may petition for the zone to be applied to a particular parcel meeting the minimum zoning district area requirements of the zoning ordinance through legislative action; (3) "performance zoning" or zoning which specifies a minimum requirement or maximum limit on the effects of a land use rather than, or in addition to, specifying the use itself, simultaneously assuring compatibility with surrounding development and increasing a developer's flexibility; (4) "planned development district" or a development project comprised of housing of different types and densities and of compatible commercial uses, or shopping centers, office parks, and mixed-use developments. A planned development district is established by rezoning prior to development and is characterized by a unified site design for a mixed use development; (5) "overlay zone" or a zone which imposes a set of requirements or relaxes a set of requirements imposed by the underlying zoning district when there is a special public interest in a particular geographic area that does not coincide with the underlying zone boundaries; (6) "conditional uses" or zoning ordinance provisions that impose conditions, restrictions, or limitations on a permitted use that are in addition to the restrictions applicable to all land in the zoning district. The conditions, restrictions, or limitations must be set forth in the text of the zoning ordinance; and (7) "priority investment zone" in which the governing authority adopts market-based incentives or relaxes or eliminates nonessential housing regulatory requirements, as these terms are defined in this chapter, to encourage private development in the priority investment zone. The governing authority also may provide that traditional neighborhood design and affordable housing, as these terms are defined in this chapter, must be permitted within the priority investment zone.

Legislative History

HISTORY: 1994 Act No. 355, SECTION 1; 2007 Act No. 31, SECTION 3, eff May 23, 2007. Effect of Amendment The 2007 amendment added paragraph (C)(7) relating to "priority investment zone".