Begun November, 2013 | Adopted and Effective February, 2015

Hack the Code: Decatur was an extended community effort to clean up and coordinate the city’s myriad standalone development regulations into one cohesive document — a Unified Development Ordinance. In tandem, and building on the Zoning Task Force’s near-term updates implemented in 2011-12, the process further identified areas where existing regulations failed to support Decatur’s broader policy goals, and revised them to align with the city’s vision.

Kicking off in November, 2013 and culminating in an adopted ordinance effective February, 2015, the process resulted in an easily understood, linked and searchable, user-friendly document; contributed to aging-in-place goals with the introduction of additional housing types; supported economic goals by further facilitating downtown development; and aided sustainability ambitions through a more nuanced approach to urban agriculture, storm water and green building.

All UDO-related news posts can be reviewed here. In addition to being available at City Hall for review in hardcopy form, the complete Unified Development Ordinance is available via Municode here, or for download here.