Community Development

Community Planning

The mission of the Community Planning Department is to provide excellent service to citizens and other interested parties. We understand that navigating zoning codes and ordinances can be overwhelming sometimes, so we are here to help any way we can.

Owyhee County has adopted land use zones to plan for the future of development in our community. Those zones include Agricultural, Commercial, Historic, Industrial, Multiuse, and Residential. Residential zones are where we have planned for higher density residential development. Multiuse zones allow for residential use, commercial uses, and agricultural uses. So, you will find that Residential and Multiuse zones are located closer to public services which is where development will be focused including dwellings with small scale accessory agricultural use. As you may be aware, agriculture is the economic base of Owyhee County, and provides the livelihood of many of our citizens. The Agricultural zone is set aside for large scale working landscapes protected from residential development and other conflicting land uses.

The Community Planning Department has limited staff and we spend a great deal of time meeting with citizens and developers on various projects. So, please call ahead to set up a time to meet with us so that we can be sure to have dedicated time set aside to talk with you about your project or property. Please don’t hesitate to contact us, we look forward to working with you.