Zoning in Westland is about to get a serious upgrade.
Members of the city council approved a contract Aug. 2, with metro-Detroit based, Wade Trim to conduct a comprehensive rewrite and update of the city zoning ordinance at a cost not to exceed $60,470.
Westland officials said they had identified the need to update the city zoning ordinance and corresponding zoning map in a way that will “promote the vision of the community, modernize our zoning district and be more user friendly. There has been no major update of the city's zoning ordinance since 1997,” they said.
Updating the Zoning Ordinance and Map was also recommended under the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) Redevelopment Ready Communities (RRC) program. The RRC recommended that Westland incorporate modern, user-friendly tools such as centralizing development requirements and also creating tables, and providing graphic examples where appropriate.
“In order to support Westland's alignment with RRC Best Practices, the MEDC has committed to reimbursing $30,000 of expenses towards the rewrite project,” officials noted in recommending the contract.
“This project is the next step in progressing towards Westland's vision for the future,” commented Mayor William R. Wild. “Streamlining and simplifying our framework will promote user-friendliness which will result in a more attractive and constructive guide for potential developers.”
The audit and rewrite is expected to launch in September.
Any Westland resident interested in participating on the steering committee for this project, or for more information, can contact the planning department at (734) 467-3219.
