There are various things that a planning and zoning board do in each county in Alabama. While each county has its own issues and goals, for the most part every zoning and planning board has the same general objective. Zoning and planning boards are made up of elected officials that sit on a board and are responsible for determining the zoning districts within the county. These boards are also responsible for coming up with regulations regarding the zoning within a city as well as enforcing the zoning regulations. The board is also in charge of adding any amendments to the regulations as they see fit. Zoning within each county is constantly changing so it is important to have an elected board who can make changes to the zoning regulations as they are needed. This type of planning is very important for the development and management of the different types of land within a county in Alabama.
Planning and zoning boards are responsible for multiple different types of land and their various uses. This covers all property from those within the city limits to farmland. These boards regulate the use of the specific piece of property and make sure that the use is within the county’s guidelines. Planning and zoning boards grant variances as well.
Amendments are one of the most important functions of the planning and zoning boards and the boards generally have a process set forth for a new amendment to be added.For instance in Jefferson County if you want to propose a new zoning amendment there are a few steps that you must follow. First you must submit a rezoning application and the application must be deemed as sufficient. Then a member of the zoning and planning board must review the application and determine whether a pre advisory meeting is needed or not. If there is no need for a pre advisory meeting then the application goes before the staff where they will report and schedule a public hearing. When it comes to these types of hearings, it is best to have a real estate attorney instead of an Alabama injury lawyer to counsel you through the process since this type of thing is highly specialized.
At the planning and zoning public hearing the board will either recommend the application with conditions or no conditions. The board also has the option to recommend that the application be denied. If the application is recommended, then it will go before the county commission where the commision will have the power to approve the application with or without conditions to to deny the application all together.
