Zoning

The Comprehensive Plan is an important tool that elected officials will use to manage natural resources, preserve prime agricultural land, protect historic buildings, strengthen the economic base, provide efficient public services and improve the quality of the housing stock.

The comprehensive plan is the only public document that describes a community as a whole in terms of its complex and mutually supporting networks. Although the final Comprehensive Plan that Washington County adopts will not be a legally binding document, it will be considered the official statement for how the future of the county should be developed.

In short, the Washington County Comprehensive Plan will be:

• The general guideline for future development that will promote the public health, safety, morals and general welfare of all residents;

• A promotion of the public interest of all residents;

• A public policy guide to decision making regarding the physical development of the county;

• The collection of strategies for future land use, housing, economic development, natural, cultural and historic features, transportation, community facilities and services and parks, recreation and open space;

• A current statement of the past and present conditions of the county;

• A description of how, and at what pace, the county desires to develop physically, economically and socially;

• An expression of the county’s “vision” of its optimally desirable pattern of development for the future; and

• A public document adopted by the County Commissioners.