Pinal County is announcing the notice of a 90-day public review draft for the Pinal County zoning ordinance.

It is the first comprehensive revision of the zoning ordinance since 2012 and represents a complete update and modernization of the ordinance, according to a release.

“The intent here is to make the code relevant to the times that we’re in today,” Pinal County Community Development Associate Director Brent Billingley said in the release. “We’ve attempted to make the code more flexible… and to clarify known issues in the code that have existed for years and that have been difficult for folks to understand.”

The draft of the code will be made available beginning on Jan. 16, 2025, both at https://www.pinal.gov/1695/Development-Services-Code-Update and in-person at county offices. Comments can be submitted online to the Community Development/Development Services Department from Jan. 16 to 5 p.m. on April 15.

“As many comments as we can get, the better,” Billingley said. “We want folks to understand. We want folks to buy into their land-use controls in the county. So that we’re all in agreement on how to move forward. And that we have the tools in place to have organized growth.”

The proposed zoning ordinance includes the following updates: new and revised zoning districts, administrative procedures, permitted and special permitted land uses in each zoning district, specific use standards for certain uses (home based business, group homes, recreational vehicles, mobile vendors, etc.) and development standards (setbacks, height, minimum lot size, etc.), county-wide general provisions and standards (accessory structures, lighting, hillsides, walls, signs, parking, etc.), and land use definitions that regulate development on properties throughout unincorporated Pinal County.

The update would affect all properties within unincorporated Pinal County and add additional requirements for property in a high-noise or accident-potential zone, it states at https://www.pinal.gov/1695/Development-Services-Code-Update.