The Jefferson County Commission is set to approve development regulation updates when it meets Thursday.

“We’re working with our builders to make sure that Jefferson County is growing in an orderly manner to where the people that are moving in will be happy and the people that are moving in upon will be happy,” commission President Jimmie Stephens said after Tuesday’s committee meeting. “Prior to this new zoning ordinance, we did not have the tools in which to do that.”

Stephens said the plan, which is available on the county website, provides expanded options for the county and builders.

“But it’s held within certain parameters which will satisfy the citizens that already reside there,” he said. “This is a step forward. It’s part of our economic development plan for Jefferson County, where we grow in an orderly fashion.”

The commission president stressed that the plan is not “developer driven,” which he said is “very, very important.”

“Those developer-driven projects are geared to maximize the density in order to maximize the profits,” Stephens said. “This gives restraints to that.”

During Tuesday’s committee meeting, commissioners received a long-awaited report from Development Director Josh Johnson, who called the effort “a big lift” for him and his staff. It included a comprehensive plan with a land use map and adjusted zoning ordinance. Highlights include:

• Increased design with increased density.
• Single-family detached housing with a typical lot width of 65 feet.
• Mixed-use zoning.
• A medical cluster district around UAB West.
• Farming protection zoning.
• Zoning for tiny homes.
• Overlay protection for sensitive environmental features.
• A Northern Beltline overlay to maximize infrastructure.
• Life-safety provisions such as storm and fire protection.
• Administrative revisions based on variance case history.
• Administrative reviews for traffic impact analysis, economic impact analysis required for industrial requests; and private sewer management provisions.