Officials from the City of Petal are currently referencing and reviewing the city’s current zoning map in advance of updating that document.
Ward 5 Alderman Drew Brickson said the current map is dated Feburary 2015; because of that, the city’s building department is following best practices by making sure upcoming developments are correctly zoned. With the help of City Engineer John Weeks, an updated map should be completed by sometime this fall.
“It’s something we’ve been looking at – when they came and said it was from 2012, a lot of things have changed (since then),” Brickson said. “It’s just good to have some accurate planning documents, and a zoning map is a very good tool to have in our building department to understand what the proper land parcels are zoned at.
“Also, if people are looking to buy or invest in our city, you want to have accurate planning documents, and the zoning map is one of those. It’s over 10 years old, so I do appreciate (Mayor Tony Ducker), because he’s the one that told the building department to go ahead and do it.”
The zoning map is broken down into several categories as follows:
- RF – Rural Fringe;
- R1 – Low Density Residential;
- R2 – Low-Medium Density Residential;
- R3 – Medium Density Residential;
- R4 – High Density Residential;
- CO – Commercial Office;
- C1 – Neighborhood Commercial District;
- C2 – General Commercial District;
- C3 – Central Business District;
- I1 – Light Industrial District;
- I2 – Heavy Industrial District;
- MHP – Mobile Home Park District; and
- PUD – Planned Unit Development. The term PUD is used to describe a type of development and the regulatory process that permits a developer to meet overall community density and land use goals without being bound by existing zoning requirements.
“A lot of information doesn’t change overnight – once you do a zoning map, very few things change overtime, unless you do a major thing like annexation,” Brickson said. “If you do an annexation, a lot of new land comes into the city, but we haven’t done an annexation since (the early 2000s).
“I think this is just a matter of doing a little housecleaning as we look at our ordinances and planning documents. We’re seeing what needs to be updated and validated, and this is a great planning tool for investors who are coming into the city.”
