The Zoning Ordinance is designed and adopted for the following purposes:

A. Physical Development

Regulating the physical development of land according to the:

1. Height, number of stories, and size of structures;
2. Lot sizes, the percentages of lots that may be occupied, and the sizes of yards, courts, and other open spaces;
3. Density of population; and
4. Location, uses, and appearance of buildings, structures, and land for business, industrial, residential, or other purposes;

B. Safety

Securing safety from fires, panic, explosion, noxious fumes, and other such hazards and dangers, and to control nuisance-producing uses of land;

C. Light, Air, Privacy and Access

Promoting adequate light, air, privacy, and convenience of access to property; 

D. Prevent Overcrowding

Preventing undue concentration of population, overcrowding of land, and undue congestion in the streets; 

E. Resources

Assuring the proper use of natural resources to prevent pollution of air and water, to protect property from flooding and accelerated erosion, to protect historic and archaeological resources, to protect wetlands, and to conserve natural beauty and open space;

F. Property Values

Conserving property values by preventing the harmful encroachment of incompatible uses, and by providing for the elimination of those uses that adversely affect the neighborhood character, development, and value of property, and by ensuring that any proposed development is compatible in use, scale, and building design within the neighborhood in which the development is proposed; 

G. Land Use and Growth

Encouraging the most appropriate use of land, and allowing for planned, orderly, and beneficial growth; and

H. Economic Development

Promoting economic development and the expansion of the city’s tax base.