URS and CR Planning recently completed a unified development code (UDC) for Linn County, Iowa, merging seven land use codes including zoning and subdivision. Linn County adopted a new Comprehensive Plan in 2000 and an Interim Development Ordinance (IDO) in 2002. The Comprehensive Plan directed the creation of a UDC with updated zoning districts.
The Code update process was guided by a twenty-member Ordinance Review Committee representing a variety of stakeholders including: the City of Cedar Rapids, surveyors, engineers, landowners, public officials, and advocacy groups. Click here for the annotated and illustrated ordinance.
Highlights of the update include:
- Development densities based on site capabilities and availability of adequate public services
- Streamlined development review processes
- An updated table of uses with specified standards for uses with potential off-site impacts
- The creation of urban expansion districts around cities within the county
- A Critical Natural Resources District to protect areas with important natural resources
- Expanded options for redevelopment of rural villages
- Provisions to promote the upgrading of nonconforming recreational cabin areas
- Modernized stormwater and erosion control provisions
