ADRIAN — The City of Adrian Planning Commission will host two informal open houses to discuss a draft of the city’s new zoning ordinance. 

The open houses will take place at the City Chambers Building at 159 E. Maumee St. in downtown Adrian. Dates and times are:

• Tuesday, July 15 from 4-6 p.m.
• Thursday, July 24 from 6-8 p.m.

The program will be the same on both days. Members of the planning commission and city officials will be present to answer questions and to receive comments and feedback on the draft.

The city of Adrian adopted its current zoning ordinance in 2006. Portions of the ordinance have been amended since then in order to address a number of issues. However, the full ordinance has not been audited and revised for conflicts with state law, public safety, health and welfare. The planning commission is also aiming to make the new ordinance easier to understand and to implement.

In 2022 Adrian began the process of becoming a Redevelopment Ready Community, which refers to participation in a voluntary technical assistance initiative available to communities across the state through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. The program is intended to empower communities to shape their future by building a solid foundation of planning, zoning, and economic development best practices and integrating them into their everyday functions. Part of becoming RRC-compliant is that a municipality’s zoning code be responsive to redevelopment needs.

The city wanted to resolve a number of issues with the its current zoning ordinance and to be eligible for recognition as a Redevelopment Ready Community. To this end the planning commission, with guidance from an outside consultant and a committee of city commissioners, planning commission and zoning board members and city officials, undertook the task of rewriting the current ordinance.

A copy of the draft ordinance is available online at https://tinyurl.com/adrianproposedzoningordinance

The planning commission will consider the draft ordinance at its Aug. 5 meeting and will receive additional public comment at that time.  If approved, the draft will then be forwarded to the city commission for its consideration.