DeKalb County Zoning Ordinance & GIS Parcel Database - DeKalb County, GA

Pond’s approach to the county-wide zoning update focused on sustainable practices, open space functions and standards, and requirements to achieve “lifelong community” policies while establishing best-practice standards for the Atlanta region. The ordinance revision combined a form-based approach in master planned areas of the county with an incentive-based, user-friendly zoning format. Extensive public involvement, developer roundtables, and field research informed this effort to meet the challenges facing this urban county of approximately 700,000 residents. Pond worked with staff across several departments to ensure enforcement capacity of new regulations, coordination of county land development, economic and housing policy, and improvements to the application and review procedures. Additionally, Pond’s planners created the land use and zoning Geographic Information System (GIS) database for the county, facilitating the accuracy and management of community-wide information.