Thinking Big About Zoning

Zoning refers to local laws or regulations regarding land and what you can do with it. It affects the fabric of our day-to-day lives—structures, streets, parks, parking, landscaping, gathering spaces, and more! It can protect and enhance the value of real estate, and prevent the incompatibility of different land uses. Most importantly, zoning can help accomplish the overall goals of a given community, stimulate economic growth, and preserve natural resources and agricultural land.

CLICK HERE to check out Sun Prairie's 'Mapping the Future' resource that provides more information on zoning.

The current City of Sun Prairie zoning code is outdated and ready for a rewrite. Some of the weaknesses of the current zoning code are:

- The contradicting standards and the number of Planned Unit Developments (PUDs) in the code make it confusing for property owners and difficult for City staff to administer.

- Restrictions that limit housing development and increase the cost of housing.

- Create barriers for investing in existing neighborhoods.

- Lacks user-friendly features such as graphics and illustrations that help explain the code.

The code will align with the City’s Comprehensive Plan, community vision and values, strategic priorities, and contemporary best practices.

• Improve housing supply & affordability (clear standards / predictable process)

• Advancing social equity, environmental sustainability, & resiliency (reducing barriers for solar, electric charging, thermal / increase housing options)

• Promote active mobility & public transportation (help people access transit / mitigate physical inactivity)

• Enable positive public health outcomes (promote accessibility & safety / mitigate pollution)

• Foster economic prosperity (attract investment & jobs / integrate dynamic places)

• Improve municipal fiscal conditions (reduce sprawl / promote infill development)

• Creating new plans or policies

• Repeating activities completed by recent planning projects

• Reducing transparency 

• Ignoring land use

• Permitting uses by right that are known to cause nuisances 

• Force out or displace current uses 

• Allowing administrative approval of rezonings or variances

• Eliminating parking

Your VOICE matters! The investment and design decisions we make today can create a built environment where future generations live, work, and choose to spend their free time. Let us know what type of development is right for Sun Prairie and what isn’t.

Stay tuned for opportunities (in-person and digitally) to share your thoughts throughout the planning process. Check out the GET INVOLVED page to learn more.