Zoning Lookup Tool

I developed the following Zoning Lookup Tool tool in 2022 as a City Planner for the Town of Chapel Hill, in collaboration with the Town’s GIS Manager. This tool addresses frequent public requests for dimensional requirements for their zoning district. 

The Layered Problem

When I joined the Town in 2020, a majority of public phone calls, emails, and visits to the Planning Department were requests for simple, dimension-related facts for their zoning district. Dimension-related facts, or dimensional requirements, include minimum and maximum lot sizing, building setbacks, building height maximums, and impervious surface restrictions.

Problem 1: Public Understanding of Online Codes

In 2020, the public could access this information in one of two ways:

1. The online Municipal Code.

2. Inquiries to Town staff.

Although the digital Municipal Code platform provides a user friendly interface for the information, the oft-requested dimensional standards are buried four pages below the fold, under a lengthy list of definitions. The Town of Chapel Hill provided the link to the online Municipal Code on the Planning Department website and on relevant building permit applications, but members of the public admitted to giving up after a couple scrolls, not immediately finding what they were looking for.

Problem 2: Omission of Data from the Municipal Code

Further complicating the public’s ability to access dimensional requirements online was the fact that Municode only provided the requirements for the base zone level. Municode did not provide the requirements that were “overlays,” or additional requirements added on to Master-Plan Community Developments such as Meadowmont and Carraway Village. These overlay requirements can either superceded or acted in conjunction with the zoning code, and in the case of Chapel Hill, the overlay requirements were recorded on the plats (deeds) of the neighborhoods and not within the Municipal Code.

In 2020, Town staff were relying on a mix of the following resources to find and regulate these neighborhood-level overlay requirements:

• PDFs that lacked a source of truth, due to the existence of numerous versions

• Legally recorded information in the Register of Deeds

• Staff memos from the subdivision and planned development approvals that created these neighborhood regulations

• Institutional knowledge

This mixture of resources created an environment that lacked a source of truth and that created confusion and errors for both staff and public.

Creating the Dataset

After working within the above context for a few months, I sketched an idea for creating an online tool whereby staff and public could search for these dimensional standards by address. The tool would present the exact dimensional standards applicable to that address and would thus act as a source of truth. 

Two things were needed to make this happen:

1. A source of truth dataset

2. A programmer to code the interface

I started working on the dataset and also reached out to the Town GIS Department to inquire about a programmer. I originally assumed we would discuss drafting a scope of programming work that we could propose to a fellow staff member or to the local Code for America chapter.

The GIS Department noted, however, that it would be easier to maintain a tool that was integrated into an existing Town licensed platform — like ArcGIS —  as opposed to something built from scratch. 

After a little research, they found an existing app in the ArcGIS Online suite called “Zoning Lookup Tool". The app provided the exact functionality that we were looking for.

The workflow then became as simple as:

1. Create a geocoded dataset of information for staff and public consumption

2. Configure the existing Zoning Lookup Tool app for this dataset

The Resulting Product

The resulting Zoning Lookup Tool app and the database behind it are working exactly as intended. The app provides a simple and user friendly interface that requires little direction or assistance. The user is able to type in an address (within the Town jurisdiction) and retrieve a table that shows the property’s exact dimensional requirements.

Benefits of the Zoning Lookup Tool

In many cities, the boundary of a zoning district determines all of the zoning related regulations for the properties within that boundary. In this Chapel Hill, however, numerous zoning updates and development approvals had created a myriad of geographic shapes within zoning districts and within neighborhoods - each with their own regulatory nuance. This nuance is visualized in the graphic below.

The Zoning Lookup Tool provides a streamlined interface and source of truth for dimensional requirements – granting both staff and the public peace of mind in researching these requirements.