Unified Development Ordinance Creation Project

The City of Madison has hired Taylor Siefker Williams Design Group LLC to help draft a Unified Development Ordinance (UDO). The UDO will combine the city's current zoning ordinance and subdivision control ordinance. The current zoning ordinance was last updated in 2016 however has received several amendments since its adoption. The current subdivision control ordinance and construction standards were adopted in 1997 and have not been updated. In 2016, the City of Madison adopted a comprehensive plan, which calls for the creation of a Unified Development Ordinance. The city has established a subcommittee to provide comments and review the drafted Unified Development Ordinance (UDO). Once drafted, the UDO will undergo a series of public meetings where the public will be able to provide comments before final adoption by the Plan Commission and City Council.

Project Goals

The primary goal of this project is to create a modernized and unified development ordinance that contains zoning, subdivision controls, and construction standards. In the process of creating this document, the city intends to do the following:

  • Update its subdivision, zoning, planned unit development, and development review procedures to ensure the City is providing a competitive, clear, and streamlined process that balances the needs of the community with those of businesses and developers; recommend areas for administrative approval, as appropriate.
  • Recommend updates to all existing zoning districts, defined and permitted uses, special and conditional uses, and development standards including parking requirements, public infrastructure, etc.
  • Move toward a more form-based, hybrid, and/or context-sensitive approach. 
  • Modernize the Definitions section.
  • Analyze and incorporate recent or emerging trends in zoning and planning.
  • Update and clarify the process for updating and adopting new construction standards.
  • Update and clarify the process for varying from the construction standards.
  • Include innovative and user-friendly interactive graphics that illustrate design and other requirements that make the code easy to use and understand.