The purpose of this Request for Proposals is to solicit qualified planning and legal consultants, urban designers and multi-disciplinary firms to submit proposals for the development of a new County Zoning Ordinance (Chapter 19.1, Chesterfield County Code of Ordinances).

The County's goal is to develop a modern, user-friendly and web-friendly ordinance to guide development in diverse environments experiencing a variety of growth challenges. Recommendations for ordinance changes should be viewed as implementation tools reflecting the goals of the County's Comprehensive Plan (approved in May 2019).

Chesterfield County is home to 349,000 residents within its 437 square miles and has grown into an attractive, vibrant and diverse community. The County has a wide variety of rural and suburban environments with a growing opportunity for urban mixed use. The County's first Zoning Ordinance was adopted in 1945. In subsequent years, a variety of districts with accompanying design standards were established. In 1978, the conditional use planned development process (CUPD) was added, followed by the adoption of a design standards manual. Most recently, in June of 2015, the County's Zoning Ordinance was recodified as Chapter 19.1. Though this recodification occurred, much of the core content of the ordinance has remained unchanged from its 1997 version.

The current Zoning Ordinance has important characteristics to note:

• It is based on principles of Euclidian zoning and contains design standards that may be inconsistent with current development trends (residential, retail, industrial).
• Some amendments made over time are inconsistent with the rest of the code.
• Portions of the code are designed to perpetuate suburban-style development.
• The ordinance contains a confusing series and structure of overlay and district-based development standards.
• It lacks design and administrative flexibility; therefore, a cumbersome CUPD process is used frequently.
• In its current format, it lacks user or business friendly tools such as diagrams or graphics to improve readability and understanding.

The County desires an ordinance that better reflects the changing dynamics of twenty-first century development patterns while considering emerging trends. The County desires a new ordinance that is balanced and flexible and may include a hybrid type of zoning regulations where form-based standards are incorporated in certain areas in alignment with the Comprehensive Plan.