County planning oversees land use outside of incorporated areas, creating zoning designations and maps to promote smart growth and address concerns. County planning departments work with city planning departments to develop cohesive plans. Officers may be elected or appointed, with varying training requirements. Operations include environmental reviews, zoning enforcement, and long-term land use plans.
County planning is a form of land use planning that extends over the area of an entire county. A county planning department generally oversees any type of development or land use outside of incorporated areas, with city planning departments handling planning issues in these areas. City and county planning departments often work together to develop a cohesive plan and address specific areas of concern, such as limited water supplies, concerns about urban sprawl, or construction on a floodplain.
Within a county planning agency, people work to create a framework for the county that envisions the best way the land could be used. This structure was designed to accommodate eventual growth and expansion, accepting that land use rarely remains static. The goal is to create a unified plan that promotes smart growth and smart building decisions, rather than allowing haphazard land use to emerge.
County planning departments usually establish zoning designations and create zoning maps that are used for the purpose of deciding how land should be used. For example, a rural area may receive rural zoning, which limits density and excludes the establishment of factories and warehouses. On the other hand, a strip of land at the edge of an incorporated area can be divided into light industrial zones, allowing companies to establish light industrial operations close to a city or town.
When developing zoning designations, county planners think about how land is currently being used, the type of use the land could support, and citizen preferences. In an area with a limited water supply, for example, allowing high-density residential zoning or heavy industrial zoning would be unwise because not enough water would be available to meet the needs of users. Likewise, people who live in a small rural community where each home is on at least two acres may not receive dense development because that would be out of the ordinary for their community.
County planning offices are usually part of the county government. Its officers may be elected or appointed depending on the laws under which they operate. Training requirements for working on a county planning commission vary. In some regions, county planners may have college degrees in topics such as land use, environmental ethics, and public policy, while in others they may simply be well-established community members familiar with local issues.
Some operations conducted by county planners include: environmental reviews, zoning enforcement, and development of long-term land use plans for the county as a whole as well as for specific communities.
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