The City of Oberlin is currently in the process of overhauling the zoning code, which dictates what types of infrastructure are allowed to exist in which areas within the City. The drafted zoning code was made public last December and is available on the City’s website. On Monday, City Council will hold a public hearing to allow residents to share their opinions and review the draft.

This revision follows suggestions made in the Comprehensive Plan that was adopted by Council in 2024. A big goal of the Comprehensive Plan is to “expand diversity and affordability of housing.” The plan included a land-use map that proposed revising the zoning code to allow for more flexibility in housing types. The zoning code has been updated several times in the last few decades, but it has not been fully redone since 1965. 

“It’s been quite a while since the entire zoning code has been reviewed, and that’s what the Comprehensive Plan was suggesting,” Councilmember Kristin Peterson, OC ’72, said. “If we’re going to try to look at the whole big picture, we need to relook at the zoning code.” 

The Comprehensive Plan, which had previously not been updated since 2005, was created with the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee, compiling all of the public engagement data from public input sessions, community surveys, and more. Community feedback showed a desire for more flexible and affordable housing. The land-use map proposed in the comprehensive plan added three new types of residential districts — Suburban Residential, Traditional Neighborhood, and Neighborhood Mixed Use — all of which allow for a wider range of residencies to exist within the same zone.

The City’s zoning currently determines things like number of families per residency.

“[The zoning code] was very restrictive with regard to anything more than a duplex,” Oberlin Director of Planning and Development Carrie Porter said. “So it made it very hard for developers to come in and develop multifamily [housing] because they had to go through a much longer process than any other type of development.” 

While development projects can get around the zoning code through obtaining a conditional use permit, this requires a long process involving approval by the Planning Commission. Porter said that the last major multifamily development in the City was the East College Street Project in 2009.

“I’m excited because I think [the zoning code revision] is going to open up opportunities for new development, especially the multifamily housing, which we know we need,” Porter said.

Oberlin’s commitment to sustainability is also emphasized in the Comprehensive Plan. Porter said the proposed zoning code allows for increased density and reduces the City’s need to develop more land. She also said the new industrial zoning code will be more restrictive than the existing zoning. However, she noted that the City remains open to research and development and innovative technologies.

“At the very top of that [Comprehensive] Plan, it talks about the two lenses that we look through: environmental sustainability and social equity,” Oberlin City Council Vice President Michael McFarlin said. “So even [when doing] something as seemingly mundane and perfunctory as a zoning code, that’s still something you have to keep in mind.”