Ordinance Updates

In 2019-20, Scott County staff met regularly with the County planning advisory commission, township officials and key stakeholders to discuss revisions to the zoning and subdivision ordinances. The revisions to these land development regulations were needed to implement the 2040 Comprehensive Plan.

The Planning Advisory Commission held a public hearing on the revisions on July 13, 2020. The County Board adopted the ordinance revisions on August 18, 2020.  Below is a summary of key revisions:

• Establishes four new zoning districts: rural business (RBR), heavy industrial (I-2), hamlet mixed use overlay (HMU) and closed landfill restricted (CLR)
• Requires deeper home setbacks from bluffs (from 30 to 50 feet)
• Allows a non-family caregiver to occupy an Accessory Dwelling Unit
• Sets new post-mining reclamation standards
• Clarifies access requirements and turn lanes for development, in both zoning and subdivision ordinances
• Sets clearer standards for kennels, day parks, shooting ranges and recreational land uses
• Allows larger sheds and accessory buildings on rural lots (see table)
  

Collaborative Processes

The Scott County Planning Department is here to serve you. The department is legally responsible for planning and zoning in all eleven townships within the County. The Department works collaboratively with the townships officials (local road authorities) in making decisions and guiding development. Each of the seven cities in the County is legally responsible for their own planning and zoning. However, given the complexity of extraterritorial issues and rapid growth, the County and Cities cooperate on many growth management issues.

Responsibilities

Planning Department’s responsibilities in the townships include:

• Comprehensive Planning and Special Studies
• Reviewing building permits for zoning compliance
• Facilitating applications for variance requests to the Board of Adjustment, and rezoning, platting, conditional use permit, and interim use permit requests to the Planning Commission and County Board
• Disseminating information such as land subdivisions, permitted uses, building setbacks (from roads, lakes, property lines), home-based business operation rules, number of animals allowed on a property; etc.

Commonly Requested Information

• Land Development and Land Use Process - Learn about the development and land use process.  
• Zoning Fact Sheets & Applications/Checklists - Summaries on County Zoning Districts, Accessory Building Requirements, Animal Units Permitted, Fences and Allowed Uses
• Scott County Ordinances - View Zoning Ordinance No. 3 and Zoning Map, Land Subdivision Ordinance No. 7, and other County ordinances
• Comprehensive Plan- Access to Adopted 2030 Comp Plan and the 2040 Comp Plan Update Information
• Scott County GIS- online mapping services and property information (You can use the ScottGIS3.0 Mapping Application web application to view the zoning for a specific property