Zoning for the Future

The new Zoning By-law for Pelham will reflect the Town’s community structure. The Town encompasses well-developed and complete urban communities that include existing development areas and new greenfield opportunities, a village and a smaller hamlet, as well as the diverse rural and agricultural land use context.

The need to update the Zoning By-law provides the Town with a unique opportunity to reconsider historic zoning practices and to implement state-of-the-art and innovative strategies for development regulation. The Town’s goal is to focus on desired development outcomes both in terms of the built form and land use– and to provide a document that is both easy to understand and easy to use for a broad range of potential end-users (builders, developers, realtors, do-it-your-selfers, farmers, lawyers, surveyors). The Town’s objective to be a progressive and innovative community and that this objective is to be reflected in all of the Town's activities, including the use of up-to-date planning approaches like form-based zoning, which is highly graphic and premised on the utilization of best planning practices, including the principles of new urbanism and complete streets and communities.