EPBN Planning and Zoning Information

Questions about construction on an adjacent property? See this FAQ from the City’s Department of Licenses and Inspections.

Questions about how to file for a zoning variance? See this information from the City about how to submit a request for a zoning permit.

EPBN does not have control over the City’s zoning process. Its role in the process is to hold open-to-the-public meetings between property owners and their representation and near neighbors and interested community members.

Our committee’s process

After the property owner requests a zoning permit, the City assigns the responsibility to hold a public hearing to a particular RCO (Registered Community Organization). If the City assigns a property to EPBN, we schedule a public meeting where the attorney, developer, business owner, and/or property owner present the details of their particular situation and explain why they are seeking a zoning variance.

The City requires that near neighbors be notified in writing about the meeting. Near neighbors are those properties located within 250 feet of the property under discussion and all neighbors on the same block as the property under discussion.

At the meeting, near neighbors and other community members have the opportunity to ask questions about the proposed changes. At the end of the meeting, every person casts a vote on whether to support or oppose the proposed changes.

EPBN then sends a letter to the City’s Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) to report the results of the vote. The City’s ZBA is not bound to abide by the outcome of the vote taken at the EPBN meeting.

The City’s ZBA has its own hearing where again the attorney, developer, business owner and/or property owner present the details of the particular situation, and the ZBA may come to a different decision on the matter than the members of the EPBN community did. Neighbors and members of the community may attend the City’s ZBA hearings and testify in support or opposition of the variance. Click here for the ZBA calendar of hearings.