Suggestions for Planning and Zoning in Appalachia

Excerpts from the report Summary: Seventeen of the more populous counties in the Appalachian Region have passed zoning ordinances. Some townships in Pennsylvania and a few in Ohio also have zoning ordinances. In North Carolina, most cities with a population of 5,000 or more and many smaller ones have zoned areas extending 1 mile outside their corporate limits. Except for a few open country zones, including agricultural, conservation, and flood plain zones, urban-type districts were usually established. Local governments look to their State legislatures for authority to zone. Zoning powers have been granted all counties in the 11 Appalachian States, except Alabama and the Carolinas, where only selected counties may zone. The zoning enabling statutes which grant zoning powers designate the areas that may be zoned and the kinds of zoning regulations that may be adopted by local governments. The local governments may exercise all of the powers granted, some of them, or none at all. Rural planning and zoning in Appalachia might be designed to do several things: To foster restoration and economic use of reclaimed mined areas, to facilitate the blocking up of forest areas, to guide summer home seekers to areas where public services can be economically provided, to protect existing and potential water-oriented and forest-oriented recreation areas, to prevent waste of tax money as a result of the construction of excess roads, sewers, water mains, and other service facilities, to guide suburban encroachment into rural areas, and to protect roadsides from distracting clutter.