The
St. Charles Parish Department of Planning and Zoning has the responsibility to regulate present
and future land issues in the parish as sanctioned by the
parish charter.
With this edict, the department always strives to never lose sight of the fact that it has an overriding goal, or mission, to balance the public interest with individual needs to create a quality living and working environment through effective land use and management.
Planning, as defined by the
American Planning Association, is
"furthering the welfare of people and their communities by creating
convenient, equitable, healthful, efficient and attractive environments
for present and future generations."
But planning is also the decision-making process of establishing goals and objectives, analyzing existing
resources and conditions, developing strategies, and enacting controls
to ensure that the goals and objectives as they relate to cities and
communities are met.
In other words, a consensus is reached for how the community is to grow
and to what extent this growth is to be
managed through the regulation
of land use with the goal of ensuring a certain pattern of development.
As in the case for a majority of communities, St. Charles Parish
accomplishes the regulation of effective land use management through zoning,
as stipulated by the Parish Zoning Ordinance.
Zoning is the regulatory
tool that classifies land uses by type and intensity within which
permitted and special uses are established, as are regulations governing
lot size, building setbacks and other development standards.
It is through zoning that more intensive land uses are separated from
less intensive land uses. The goal of zoning regulations is to achieve
compatibility among land uses by grouping like issues together.
But the overriding goal of managing the land uses through zoning
regulation is ensuring that the high quality of living and working in
this Parish of Plenty is preserved.
