The Orange Code will dictate development rules for the county

Projecting a population increase of 500,000 by 2030, Orange County is rethinking how and where the community should grow.

The county held a series of town hall meetings in each neighborhood as residents gathered to learn about the county’s proposed new zoning regulations: Code Orange.

The District 1 meeting was held on Tuesday, April 30 at Windermere High School. More than 30 residents took part in voting on topics such as open space, transportation and road planning, zoning and lot size, as well as planning and zoning terminology.

District 1 Commissioner Nicole Wilson said she looks forward to the future and making sure the county catches up to the community’s goals and vision.

“I hope we continue on this path because I think the dialogue we are having is extremely important,” she said. “I love my district because I feel like we have an incredible wealth of experiences, differences in backgrounds and knowledge, and that means that when we all come together, really great things happen. I know that many of my residents who have been involved in planning for a long time have a caring attitude because they feel that the proposals coming in affect the way they live. I hope that this process will become very predictable and that, given all the information that is coming out, it will make more sense in the case of land use change because we know whether it occurred and whether it was part of the plan. This predictability means stability, which also brings good economic development.”

WHAT IS CODE ORANGE?

Every city and county has zoning laws that describe where and how new buildings and communities can be built.

The Orange County Zoning Code was written in 1957.

The Orange Code will cover new spatial development regulations, focusing on placemaking standards and contextual regulations.

This form-based code is based on desired development features, not what communities try to avoid.

While the Vision 2050 comprehensive plan determines the type of land use and where development will occur, the Orange Code will help shape the local urban fabric, supporting predictable development outcomes and high-quality public spaces.

County staff said the plans are intended to protect the region’s natural resources, preserve the county’s diversity, meet multimodal transportation needs and achieve predictable and consistent growth patterns.

The meeting began with district staff presenting an overview of the Orange Code and the form-based code, discussing its alignment with Vision 2050, and providing a description of the draft document.

Transect zones will replace the county’s existing zoning districts in its development code. There are six transect zone identifiers – natural, rural, suburban, general, central and core – as well as secondary identifiers.

Additionally, zoning requirements will be easier to interpret using zoning standard tables.

Then, during the community engagement portion of the meeting, district staff traveled to stations for residents to visit and provide comments, which included frameworks, public works and environmental protections, land use planning and interactive portals.

The Orange Code zoning map is available through the Gridics mapping platform, which allows users to interpret and visualize how municipal zoning rules and ordinances apply to specific properties throughout Orange County.

When searching for a plot through Gridics, users can check the appropriate transect zone, appropriate overlays, plot coverage, setbacks and many other site-specific standards.

Staff and residents then reconvened for a group meeting, during which moderators from each station summarized the comments and questions received by the community.

Residents expressed their thoughts on public transport, user fees and affordable housing. Community members living in the Avalon Rural Settlement have raised concerns about the potential impact of the new code on the protections currently provided to the area.

The first initial draft review of the new code began in 2019, and the district is currently in its fourth draft review, which began in September 2023. This draft is currently undergoing staff review.

The Orange Code and Vision 2050 are expected to be presented to the County Commission for approval in September.