ABOUT THE COMPREHENSIVE ZONING ORDINANCE
New Orleans’ zoning ordinance no longer meets the needs of the city today and is an obstacle to creating the city of the future. The 1970s zoning ordinance –unsuitable for a 21st-century city – has been amended so many times and overlaid with so many changes that it is extremely difficult to understand and riddled with inconsistencies. The last effort at a comprehensive revision of the zoning ordinance resulted in a 2002 draft comprehensive zoning ordinance that was not adopted. This new Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance (CZO) will be developed simultaneously with the Master Plan and its purpose is to translate the Master Plan’s policies into user-friendly land use and development regulations. All the Master Plan public meetings will also include opportunities for New Orleanians to express their concerns, interests and ideas about zoning issues.
The process of developing the new CZO will include the following steps:
The process of developing the new CZO will include the following steps:
- Technical review of the current zoning ordinance
> Interviews and observation of zoning activities in city offices
> Identification of internal conflicts and difficulties in interpretation and application
> Evaluation of zoning concepts and completeness
> Evaluation of ordinance structure
> Identification of internal conflicts and difficulties in interpretation and application
> Evaluation of zoning concepts and completeness
> Evaluation of ordinance structure
- Identification of potential zoning early action items
- Reorganization of the existing ordinance to make it understandable
- Develop approaches and recommendations responding to master plan issues and directions
- Develop scenarios of existing and proposed residential, commercial and industrial development to illustrate existing and proposed zoning
- Prepare a draft ordinance and zoning map
The new CZO will be clearly written and organized and it will contain illustrations to help users understand the regulations. The resulting ordinance will give clear direction and a higher level of predictability to all users of the ordinance – from neighborhood residents to developers. Throughout this process, City staff, the City Planning Commission, professionals who use the zoning code regularly, and New Orleans residents will have many opportunities at different stages to review and give input on the emerging new CZO.
As they become available, draft and final versions of each element within the CZO will be posted to this website.