(Bannock County Press Release, November 4, 2025; Cover photo credit: Bannock County)
Bannock County Planning & Development Services (P&D) is drafting a comprehensive Land Use & Development Ordinance to replace current zoning code.
What is a Land Use & Development Ordinance?
A Land Use & Development Ordinance is a local rule that tells people how land in a community can be used, built on, or divided. It helps guide growth and follows the community’s comprehensive plan (view ours here).
Right now, Bannock County has eight different ordinances that cover different parts of land use and development.
Planning & Development Services is suggesting a new update. They want to combine all eight ordinances into one clear and simple rule. This change would make the rules easier to understand, save time, and remove any parts that are confusing or redundant.
You can check out P&D’s proposed changes here.
Public Input
To help shape the new ordinance with the community’s vision in mind, we asked folks to complete a short online survey and/or attend one of two open houses last month. We received some great feedback (more than 600 survey responses!) and are now reviewing the input as we head towards a draft of the new ordinance.
What’s Next?
The P&D staff are currently reviewing public input and drafting the new ordinance. Once that’s ready, I’ll step in to design the document—making sure it’s user-friendly (and pretty!)—before it moves into the public hearing process.
Here’s a quick look at the meetings that will be scheduled to review the draft ordinance:
- P&D Council Workshop
- Board of Commissioners Workshop
- P&D Council Public Hearing
- Board of Commissioners Public Hearing
All of these meetings will be broadcast live on our YouTube page so the public can tune in. The public hearings are your chance to share feedback on the proposed ordinance draft.
Meeting dates haven’t been set yet, but if you’d like to stay updated, visit bannockcounty.gov/ourfuture. That’s where we’ll post meeting schedules, updates, and more information as the project moves forward.
